Waiting for Springtime
by serenbach
Summary: After agreeing to an arranged marriage and unexpectedly falling in love, Yuffie is devastated when she loses her husband. It's Vincent's turn to help someone move on. Y/OC eventual Y/V.
1. Chapter 1

_**Waiting for Springtime.**_

* * *

Vincent's life began to change quickly after the Deepground incident. He finally felt able to put his past behind him. He felt freer. He was beginning to see that perhaps sins could be forgiven. His friends were very supportive of his attempts to move on; Cloud asked him to be best man at his wedding to Tifa, just a month after his return, and even more to his surprise, Cid asked him to be one of the godfathers to his baby son, Stephan. With some encouragement from Reeve, he'd taken a permanent position with the WRO and had brought a flat in Edge. His wandering days seemed to be over, for the first time in decades, he felt as if he was living a life with a purpose, not one swept up in events beyond his control.

Perhaps the biggest change was Vincent's friendship with Yuffie. It strengthened very quickly after his return from the battle with Omega, when one evening she called him out of the blue.

"Valentine."

"Gawd, Vinnie, don't you ever say hello?" Some people don't need to introduce themselves, he noted dryly to himself.

"Hello, Yuffie," he said to appease her, and waited politely for her to continue.

"Heya! Are you busy tonight?"

"Why?" he asked flatly, and she laughed loudly down the line.

"So suspicious! Reeve's asked me to look through a load of files on Deepground and I was wondering, you know, since you were there too, if you would help me?"

He paused for a moment, considering. It wasn't as if he had anything planned, after all. "… Alright."

"Yay! Thanks, Vince. Have you eaten?"

"No."

"Great. I'll be there in about half an hour. See ya!"

She turned up forty-five minutes later with a huge stack of folders, enough Wutainese take-away to feed fifteen people, and a flowering cactus in a bright yellow pot as a housewarming present. A few hours after that found them both sat on the floor of his living room, his table and settee covered in folders and foil cartons. He'd opened a bottle of a wine at some point and the conversation flowed surprisingly easy between them, though whether that was due to the wine, the fact that most of the conversation was based around an actual issue rather than just small talk, or because he felt less disconnected from the people around him he wasn't sure. But he was a little taken aback by the fact he was actually having a good time and enjoying her company. Of course, Yuffie still totally monopolised the conversation, but he discovered that he was interested in her ideas and observations, and found himself responding much more than he expected.

They had always been friends, of sorts. Yuffie had always offered him her smiles and optimism and she had never judged him for his past sins (although she _had _occasionally accused him of being boring), but he had been so caught up in his regret for the past that he felt like he had not been able to be a very good friend to her in return. He had travelled and fought alongside her more than any of the others in AVALANCHE, and the trust that developed from that settled into a sort of bond he wasn't entirely comfortable with. After all, he was a monster. It seemed wrong to have a young girl look up to him, to trust him. But as much as he wanted to, he could never quite bring himself to fully push her away.

Perhaps it started because she had never been frightened of his transformations. The first time he had changed into the Galian Beast, the rest of AVALANCHE had backed away warily. Yuffie's reaction had been an unimpressed, '_pfft, you should see what my dad turns into when __**he**__ gets pissed,' _as she helped him to his feet. It wasn't until much later, when he and Cloud watched her climb the pagoda that he realised she was being literal. The fact that there was someone in the group who could meet his eyes without fear or disgust right from the start was comforting, though he could only just admit that to himself. It still didn't quite explain why he had tolerated her, though.

When they were together he felt human. Frequently, human and irritated, but still human.

Now, however, he could return her friendship in a way that she deserved. He no longer had to fight the lingering guilt that whispered he was tainting her simply by his presence. He felt as if he was capable of being a friend.

* * *

Reeve often paired them together for their WRO missions, especially the ones involving monster extermination. This meant that they spent a lot of time travelling together, and often had to share rooms in inns (Yuffie frequently complained that Reeve was stingy with expenses. Reeve claimed that he was just good at budgeting). In some ways, this reminded him a lot of their journeying to defeat Sephiroth, when they'd been put in a team simply because his constant silence got on everyone else's nerves as much as Yuffie's constant chatter. But now he actually talked back occasionally when she spoke to him. He learned a lot about her on their trips. He began to understand her hopes and plans for Wutai, and even admire them.

He had never really had a confidant before, and a few years ago he wouldn't have expected it to be Yuffie. But she could talk about anything, and he soon discovered that she could _listen _about anything too, in the rare moments when he felt the need to talk. He found himself able to share memories of Lucrecia with her, and discovered that although the memories weren't so painful anymore; sharing them had a cathartic effect. He really was moving on.

Yuffie brought actual _fun _into his life; she was like a bright beaming ray of light into a dark, stuffy room. She dragged him with her to explore materia caves, she pounced on him from behind when it was snowing, somehow managing to drop snow down the back of his neck before pelting him with snowballs as she ran for her life. The day Vincent realised he needed to buy some new clothes (as his work with the WRO sometimes required him to blend in a little more), Yuffie came along to the shops in Junon with him, trying to make him buy brightly pattered shirts and baggy ripped-up jeans. She snorted at his choices of plain white shirts and black trousers before dragging him to look in the materia and accessory shops. When he got home and unpacked his shopping bags, he found a pink flowery shirt and a pack of moogle-patterned boxer shorts that he obviously hadn't paid for (he suspected she probably hadn't either). He never wore them, of course, but every time he saw them in his wardrobe or his drawer, he found himself smiling.

One day, both he and Yuffie made the mistake of sitting in Tifa's bar and not looking busy, and so they had been volunteered into going shopping. Yuffie grumbled about this for a bit, since it was drizzling a little outside, but followed him and the list out into Edge. After they bought everything on the list, and after he removed all the junk food Yuffie tried to sneak into the basket, they began to make their way back. As they were walking back, Yuffie suddenly grabbed his arm and moved him so that he was walking on the other side of her. "You have to walk on this side," she informed him, gesturing to emphasise her point.

"Why?" he asked, puzzled by her seemingly random behaviour.

She waved at the slanted pavement, indicating that she was now on the higher part of it. "Because you are unfairly tall," she answered seriously. He felt the corners of his mouth quirk in amusement and Yuffie laughed in delight, reaching up to tug the collar of his cloak away from his mouth. "You're smiling?"

He didn't say anything, but he let his lips curve even more as an answer. Yuffie, still on her toes, smiled back, looking him in the eyes. "I think we should go and get some ice-cream or something to mark the occasion."

Only then he noticed how close she was to him, how her eyes sparkled as she looked into his and how warm her hand was on his shoulder. He knew he should have been uncomfortable but he wasn't. He didn't know what he felt, but it wasn't a bad feeling.

"… Yes," he agreed to her suggestion, despite the fact that he thought eating ice-cream in the rain was a little odd, letting her take his hand to lead him away.

* * *

A few weeks later, Vincent looked up from his book at the urgent knock on the door. Frowning at the clock, he wondered who on earth would be bothering him at almost half-eleven at night. He wasn't entirely surprised to see Yuffie, but he was startled by the frantic light in her eyes and the way she was fretfully shifting her weight from foot to foot. He stepped back to let her in, silently questioning her anxiety.

"Uh, sorry Vince, I know it's kinda late…" and that was another surprise. Yuffie always acted as if her presence completed a situation, no matter how inconvenient it actually was. He waved at a chair but she didn't sit, she remained shifting awkwardly, not meeting his eyes. After a few more minutes of this, he realised that he was actually going to have to initiate the conversation, something that he didn't usually have to do. He watched her as she bounced, wondering what could have disturbed her so.

"Yuffie?" he asked gently, and concealed his wince as she looked up. Her left

cheekbone was marred by an ugly yellow-green bruise. Earlier that week, they'd fought a huge monster in the ruins of Midgar. Yuffie hadn't dodged one of its claws in time and ended up flung into a distant pile of rubble. He'd been annoyed at himself, if he'd been just a second quicker… he didn't voice his irritation, however, knowing what Yuffie's reaction would be if he did. She'd disappeared for a few days after that. He hadn't been worried, but he was a little surprised that she hadn't let him know where she was, or phoned him at all in that time.

"Vincent… I'm getting married," she spat with sudden harsh vehemence. He took an automatic step back at her tone, but her words hit him like a physical blow.

"What?" he asked, almost breathless with surprise. She glared at him, her eyes tired, angry and almost hopeless.

"I'm getting married," she repeated quietly, the words flat and oddly final. Her shoulders sagged with exhaustion, snapping him back into reality. He put his hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her down into an armchair, before going into the kitchen with the intent of making a cup of tea. Instead, he opened up a bottle of red wine and poured two glasses.

Yuffie took several large gulps of her drink. Red wine wasn't her favourite drink, but he supposed she was too stressed out to really care. He sat opposite her, sipping at his drink and looking at her over the rim of the glass, waiting for her to feel ready to speak.

"Godo phoned me the night after our mission," she began abruptly. "Asked me to come home. The old man actually said 'please' so I figured it was important." She frowned into the liquid for a while. "He's kinda sick, Vinnie, and needs to take a step back. I wouldn't mind, but apparently, I can't rule on my own. I need a man to guide me." The last part was said with a bitter sarcasm that didn't suit her.

Vincent took a breath, wondering why this news disturbed him almost as much as it obviously did her. "Do you… know who? Or when?" he asked her, not really wanting to know.

She snorted sourly. "His name is Kito Matsuri. I've not seen him since I was nine years old. I kicked his ass one day in ninja class so he _threw _his_ juice _at me. Gawd, he was like fourteen at the time."

"He's unlikely to do that again," he pointed out, hoping to smooth out the discontented twist of her mouth.

She gave him a reluctant half-smile. "Well, no. But he's not even a ninja!" she said, as if it was a crime. Vincent knew that it was unusual for Wutainese noblemen not to have some sort of military training. "He flunked out of ninja training and has been learning to be a diplomat or something. Guess that's why Godo chose him."

She drained her glass and looked around for somewhere to put it down. Vincent took it from her and poured her another drink. "I always knew I'd have to get married, Vinnie, but I thought I'd have more _time. _I don't want to marry him. What am I gonna do?"

Vincent hesitated. He wanted to tell her to refuse the marriage. The idea of her marrying someone she didn't want to, of her being unhappy, made something twist unpleasantly inside him. But what right did he have to tell her to refuse her duty?

"You have a life outside Wutai, Yuffie, if you wish it," he pointed out softly, after a long moment of thought.

She didn't reply, but he could tell by her far-away expression that she was considering it, the life she could have, one of total freedom. Then she shook her head. "I can't, Vince. There's no-one else. I've spent my whole life fighting for Wutai. I've always said I'd do anything to make us great again, I can't take that back just because it's something I don't wanna do." Her voice was quiet and sad, but very sure. He reluctantly nodded his head.

"And… when?" he asked, struggling to keep his voice neutral, already burning with anger at this unknown boy.

"Not for a while," she replied, and he could hear the relief in her voice. "Godo has decided to let us get to know each other first. But he wants me to move back to Wutai, he said that working for the WRO is making me ugly." She indicated the bruise on her cheek, pulling a face. "I really don't wanna do that. If I move back to Wutai permanently I might not be able to ever escape."

"Your father is expecting you to protest this marriage, yes?" he asked, and Yuffie nodded, looking at him curiously. "Since you have already accepted it, why not use it as leverage? Godo will be so surprised at your agreement he will be more likely to consent to your other requests."

She stared at him in shock before starting to laugh. "Ooh, sneaky, Vince! I like it." She sipped at her drink, looking much happier. "Hey, when I'm empress, do you want to come and work for me? I'll pay you more than Reeve does." He shook his head in amusement, making Yuffie smile, then sigh. "Sometimes I just wish that Godo would be my _dad, _you know, not just lord of Wutai."

There was nothing he could say to that. He didn't remember his own father very well, but he knew that he had both loved him as a father, and liked him as a person. They remained quiet for a long time after that, until Yuffie realised how late it was. She squeezed his hand as she left, laughing off his offer to walk her home and thanking him for listening. When she left, he stayed awake for a long time, still feeling anger towards Godo and Yuffie's fiancé.

* * *

The reaction of the rest of the group when Yuffie shared her news was predictable, loud exclamations of surprise and protest. Perhaps that was why she had spoken to him first; she knew that his reaction would be calmer.

"But Yuffie," Tifa objected. "You're only nineteen. That's far too young to get married!"

"Not by Wutainese standards," Yuffie replied. "I'm practically an old spinster! I already have a house full of cats," she joked. Vincent noticed that she had hidden from them the true extent of her reluctance; she had buried her distress under humour. He thought it was strange that he was the one she always chose to confide her true emotions in.

Yuffie returned to Wutai, but managed to persuade her father to let her come back to Edge and to take on the occasional mission for the WRO. She had snickered mischievously down the phone to him when she repeated the conversation.

She spent most of her time getting to know Kito Matsuri. The only thing they really had in common was their desire to restore Wutai, but they had very different ideas on how that should be done. Their furious arguments turned into heated debates which developed into genuine exchanges of ideas, which turned into plans. Over the following few months, the opinion she gave of him changed from 'tradition-bound idiot' to 'maybe not that bad' to 'okay, he has some good points.'

Somewhere along the way the two of them fell in love, their shared passion for Wutai and all the emotion they put into their work creating a hugely strong bond between them. Yuffie didn't realise it was going on at first. It took Tifa to point it out to her. On one of her carefully negotiated monthly visits to Edge, Tifa asked, quite casually, "how's it going with Kito?"

To everyone's surprise, Yuffie blushed a fierce scarlet, making Tifa smile knowingly. "So, what happened?"

"Well, we were arguing about stuff as usual when he suddenly launched himself at me and stuck his tongue down my throat," she mumbled, embarrassed. Tifa laughed, but Vincent stirred, not liking the idea for some reason he couldn't pinpoint.

"So, did you punch him out or kiss him back?" Tifa asked delightedly.

When Yuffie blushed even more, Tifa laughed. "I knew it! It was only a matter of time- if you were school kids, he'd be pulling your hair and you'd have pushed him into a puddle by now."

"What?" Yuffie asked, confused.

"You obviously fancy him!" she exclaimed in exasperation. "Well, don't you?"

Yuffie pulled a truly impressive face. "I dunno. Can you want to kiss someone and kill them at the same time?"

"Yes!" Tifa, Cloud and Cid, who were all listening, answered as one.

"Maybe you should make the best of it, Yuffie, since you have to marry him anyway," Tifa suggested practically.

Yuffie snorted, and then laughed. "I guess. He's not _that _bad. And he's kinda cute, in a geeky way. I just don't want to admit that Godo was right about something for once."

That remark was greeted by laughs and eye-rolls. Vincent excused himself briefly and went outside to get some air. He felt something almost akin to anger at the conversation and he honestly could not tell why.

She followed him out a little while later. "You okay, Vince? You're being awfully quiet, even for you."

"I'm fine," he answered distantly, not looking directly at her. He could still feel that odd anger curling in his gut. She sat next to him on the steps, leaning her elbows on her knees and propping her head up with her hands. He could feel the warmth of her body along his left side. Her eyes glinted silver in the starlight as she stared up at him and for some reason, he couldn't meet her steady gaze.

"Liar," she accused cheerily. "When you wanna tell me what's really bothering you, I'll listen."

He said nothing. How could he explain his annoyance to her when he couldn't explain it to himself? After a few more silent moments, Yuffie stood, tugging at his cloak until he rose as well.

"Come on, I have to go back to Wutai tomorrow. If you're not gonna talk, we can play cards instead." So they did, and he won two games of poker with Yuffie and Cid, what with him having a natural poker-face, and he firmly pushed that peculiar emotion away.

After that, he observed their progress with a sinking feeling he didn't understand. He got monthly updates whenever they met up in Edge, sometimes she would call him if she was really excited, and he would be forced to listen to her chatter on and on and on and on… but he didn't have the heart to interrupt her. He didn't like it. He didn't understand why listening to her talk with delighted astonishment about the fact she had actually _fallen in_ _love _with the man she was going to marry (something she had never expected) filled him with something that was almost anger. He met Kito once and found that he was perfectly nice and clearly adored Yuffie, Vincent honestly couldn't figure out why he didn't like him. He'd just dismissed it as over-protectiveness on his part. Yuffie was one of his few friends. Of course he didn't want her to be hurt.

* * *

In one of their monthly gatherings in Edge she followed him to the roof of the bar where he'd escaped for a few moments of peace, and handed him an elegantly addressed envelope. "Hand-delivery," she announced with a smile, indicating that he should open it. It was an invitation to her wedding, written in both Wutainese and Midgarian, setting the date for the next month. He stared at it almost as if it had bitten him, feeling an odd hollowness in his chest.

"You can RSVP now, if you like," Yuffie said, flopping backwards to look at the stars.

"… I do not know if I will be there," he replied quietly, re-reading the invitation and wondering why he felt so strange.

Yuffie pushed herself abruptly upright, and faced him with an open look of hurt. "You're not coming to my _wedding?_"

He shifted awkwardly. He wasn't sure why he didn't want to go, and it felt a little odd that Yuffie would be upset if he wasn't there. He was still unused to having friends, and had even less practice at being one. "I…"

"Is it because I didn't ask you to be a bridesmaid? Coz we can work something out…"

Vincent sent her a flat look, and she grinned, but still looked troubled. "Seriously, what's up?"

He relented. He didn't want her to be distressed about it. She had more important things to consider. "I meant only that I have to check with Reeve. I'm sure he'll give me the time off."

She smiled in relief. "He had better, or I'll be introducing my Conformer to some interesting parts of his anatomy!"

"I see your diplomatic skills are improving," he commented dryly, striving for balance.

She giggled and slapped at his arm playfully. "Very funny, Vince. So, you're coming, right?" He gave a brief nod and she grinned. "Yay! But you can't wear this," she added, tugging on his cloak. "My wedding kimono is red and I don't want you upstaging me."

He sighed. "Very well."

"Something smart," she ordered firmly. "And not made of leather. Or metal," she finished, flicking the toe of one of his metal-tipped boots.

He nodded his acquiescence and she sighed in satisfaction, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her head on her knees. They sat in a comfortable silence for a little while, but Yuffie was not one for sitting quietly as a party was happening. She bounced to her feet and stretched, before offering him a hand to stand up.

A small smile touched his mouth, but he shook his head at her offer. "I'll be in shortly," he assured her as her eyebrows scrunched together in disapproval. She smiled then, and left him in peace to wonder why her invitation affected him the way it did.

* * *

A few weeks later, Vincent was sitting with the other male members of AVALANCHE in the pagoda of the five mighty gods, all looking awkward in their dress clothes, standing out in the middle of a crowd in traditional Wutainese dress. As ordered, Vincent had left off his cloak and was wearing a smart suit, his hair held off his face with a black bandanna. Tifa and Shera had provided the clothing for all the men, apparently not trusting in their collective dress-sense. He was still wearing his gauntlet though; he wasn't comfortable with the thought of being totally unarmed. Tifa let it go; she knew when she was fighting a losing battle. It was a beautiful early spring day and Vincent felt horrendously out of place.

"Vincent!" Tifa beckoned him, dressed in a simple, stylish kimono; her bridesmaid dress. Her hair was tied into an elegant knot on the back of her head. He went over unwillingly. He didn't want to be here. He raised an eyebrow at her enquiringly.

"Yuffie wants you," Tifa said, beaming with excitement. "She wants a male opinion on her dress." _Why me? _he thought dispiritedly, but didn't have time to object as Tifa was already leading him away.

They made their way to Yuffie's house where Shera, Marlene, Shelke, and a young Wutainese woman he didn't know were all waiting, wearing similar outfits. "Vincent's here, Yuffie!" Tifa called, bustling over to fix something on Marlene's dress. He could hear padding footsteps from the room behind him and turned around reluctantly.

"Hi Vince!" Yuffie exclaimed, sounding hyper and excited. "Well, how do I look?" She struck an exaggerated model's pose in the doorframe.

He stared at her in disbelief. Gone was her usual casual ensemble of shorts and a crop top, she was wearing a full, formal kimono embroidered in rich reds and golds that suited her perfectly. Her hair, rather than being held messily out of her face with a headband, was as smooth and glossy-black as raven feathers, elegantly framing her features. Her face was lightly made up, grey eyes glittering and full mouth smiling. His breath actually caught in his throat. She was so beautiful, in every way.

As he looked at her, bubbling with happiness in her wedding dress, he realised that he was in love with her. The shock hit him like a punch to the stomach.

"Vinnie? You still there? Or have I struck you dumb with my amazing sexiness?" He could hear the grin in her voice. He had a feeling she would be bouncing on her toes if her dress wasn't so heavy.

"You look… truly lovely, Yuffie," he replied honestly. Yuffie didn't hear the unusual hesitancy in his words but Tifa did, and her head turned to him in alarm. He couldn't even bring himself to care.

Yuffie smiled, glowing at the compliment. "Aw, thanks Vinnie! Hey, you've gotta dance with me later, okay?" She saw the refusal in his eyes. "It's my wedding day! You have to be nice to me, it's the rule!"

"As you wish," he murmured, still in shock. They could hear a change in the tone of the crowd outside.

"You better take your seat, Vincent," Tifa said calmly, coming to join them. She placed a supportive hand on his arm. He nodded once, actually appreciating the simple gesture. He couldn't _believe _this was happening to him again.

He half-turned to leave, and then paused. "Yuffie… congratulations." It was the hardest thing he had ever had to say, and that surprised him.

"Thanks, Vincent," she replied with a gentle smile. "I'm really glad you're here."

He nodded again, feeling her heartfelt words like a knife, before leaving to find his seat with the others. He felt Tifa's eyes on his back as he left.

When he sat down, he saw that Kito was already waiting at the altar, looking as nervous as Yuffie had looked excited. His outfit complemented hers. He had to physically restrain himself from glaring at the younger man.

Fortunately, it wasn't too long a wait before the music started and Yuffie walked down the aisle on her father's arm, her bridesmaids following her like butterflies around a flower. She looked so beautiful, so undeniably happy. When Lord Godo placed her hand in Kito's, he had to look away from his tender smile, instead focusing on Yuffie as she stumbled over her vows, then laughed about it.

It was just like Lucrecia all over again, he thought bitterly as he watched her radiant face, but just as suddenly that bitterness faded. This was nothing like what had happened with Lucrecia. Yuffie had never led him on; she had offered him nothing but friendship, enthusiasm for life and her unending support. He knew, absolutely knew, that even though it was her wedding day, if he were to pull her aside and ask her for help with something, she would do everything she could to aid him. She was his closest friend, the best friend he had ever had, and he was stupid for not realising before now exactly how much she meant to him. If he had spoken before, if he had _known,_ there might have been a chance for them… but he hadn't and there wasn't.

Was he really so much of an asshole that he was going to hold this against her, feelings he hadn't even been aware of until now? Of course not. He did not want to dilute her happiness in any way.

He was in love, again. And it was unrequited, again. But at least this time, he had Yuffie as a friend. He knew she cared for him, even if it wasn't in the way he wanted. And after all, it wasn't as if she had chosen another man over him. She just hadn't been aware that he was a choice. Hell, _he _hadn't known he was a choice.

Vincent sighed as he watched Kito slide the ring on her finger. It was probably better this way anyway, he reasoned miserably. Yuffie was so bright, so full of life, she deserved a young man who could love her truly, who had no shadows in his past and no blood on his hands. No matter how hard it was going to be for him.

* * *

He sat at the sidelines during the reception, silent, not even picking at the food. None of the rest of AVALANCHE seemed to find anything unusual in this, although Tifa kept shooting him sympathetic looks, which he refused to acknowledge. He couldn't even find any amusement in Cid blatantly leering at Shera in her kimono, as he was evidently unused to seeing his engineer wife in such feminine clothing. He was still reeling in shock, but he knew that the shock would soon crystallise into pain. He was very experienced at unreciprocated love, after all.

As the afternoon wore on the reception became less formal, but Vincent still refused to participate. When dusk fell, the bottom floor of the pagoda was cleared and the band started playing. Yuffie and Kito danced first of course. Neither of them could really dance, especially not Yuffie in her heavy clothing, but they swayed slowly in an irregular circle, arms around each other, Yuffie's head resting on his chest. Vincent could tell that he was whispering something to her, and he frowned and looked away.

After her first dance, she danced with Godo, who was looking frailer each time Vincent came to Wutai. After she made sure her father was seated comfortably, she approached him with a huge, cheeky grin and pulled him up by his hands.

"C'mon Vinnie, you promised!" she exclaimed brightly, leading him on to the dance floor. "Just don't stand on my feet." He put his gauntleted hand on her waist, careful not to snag the expensive silk, and took her hand in his human one, making sure to keep her at an appropriate distance. He twirled her cautiously, aware of the restrictive nature of her dress. He was concentrating very hard on not giving himself away, and was taken aback when she started sniggering.

"What?" he asked, following her gaze. Reeve was dancing with the Wutainese bridesmaid he hadn't known, and they were very obviously flirting with each other.

"Kito's little sister," Yuffie explained, smirking. "Didn't see that one coming."

"No," he agreed softly, trying to keep his voice normal. They danced in silence until the end of the song, when Yuffie surprised him by going up on her toes and throwing her arms around his neck.

"Thanks for coming, Vince," she whispered. Despite himself, he memorised the smell of her hair and the way her body fit against his, knowing it would be his only chance. Gently, he eased away from her.

He stared down into her sparkling grey eyes, taking a deep breath. "Be happy, Yuffie," he murmured, finding it in himself to really mean it.

She gave him a softer smile than the ones he was used to seeing from her. "Thanks, Vinnie," she replied quietly. "By the way, you're looking sharp," she added, returning to her usual cheekiness, and straightened his tie for him. He wasn't sure how to respond to that, so settled for raising an eyebrow, making her giggle. He kept his eyes on hers for a second longer, before handing her over to Reeve, who was demanding the details on Kito's sister. He sat down and closed his eyes briefly, resigned.

Yuffie danced with all of the male members of AVALANCHE, including Cloud once Tifa made him. When she was finished, Kito came over and took her hand. "Time to go, Yuf," he announced with a small smile. This led to cheering and catcalls from their friends, making Yuffie blush slightly. She kissed Godo goodbye, and waved at her friends, before following Cid and Shera who had agreed to give them a lift to the Gold Saucer, where they were having their honeymoon. Vincent turned to leave. He had stayed to see Yuffie married, like he promised. He had no obligation to stay further. He nodded his goodbye to his remaining friends, then turned and left. He had come by golden chocobo; he had no need to wait for a lift.

"Vincent, wait!" He turned back at Tifa's urgent call. She hesitated under his flat glare.

He wasn't in the mood for sympathy, or reassurance, or comfort. He just wanted to be left alone, to try and collect himself. "Look… just don't disappear on us again, okay? We're your friends, Vincent. All of us."

He nodded once, but that was all that Tifa seemed to need. She gave him a sad smile, before returning to Cloud who was watching them curiously. She tugged on her husband's arm, breaking his gaze and leading him back to the dance floor. Vincent left the pagoda, collected his things from Yuffie's home and left Wutai on his chocobo. He didn't look back, and he ignored the sound of the _Shera _as it flew overhead.

* * *

_A/N- I've not actually played DoC so please forgive me if I make any mistakes or don't mention it much._

_I'm not really sure where this came from, but I've read a lot of fics where Yuffie's waiting for Vincent to get over his past and ones where Yuffie marries some loser and Vincent rescues her, and that's all good but I just though it would be interesting to do the opposite. Sorry if it started a bit slow, but I was trying to show Vincent and Yuffie's friendship developing over time, the same with Yuffie falling in love. There will be more details on that in a later chapter in Yuffie's POV. _

_Please review! Try and be nice though, I need cheering up as I have just discovered, despite the fact I am only 22, my hair is actually going grey. :(_

_Oh, obviously I don't own FF7. _


	2. Chapter 2

Surprisingly, it turned out that his too-late realisation wasn't as hard to cope with as he would have expected. It didn't start out that way, of course. Although he had assured Tifa that he wouldn't disappear, he pointed his chocobo vaguely in the direction of Edge and let it wander wherever it wanted while he was lost in his own thoughts. He needed some space to think. He needed some time to recover.

He was so blind, so stupid! Why was it that he could never see what was right in front of him until it was too late? He couldn't berate himself enough. The pain tore through his still-bruised soul, ripping open new wounds and making old ones ache. It wasn't until his remaining demons (who had been all but dormant since Chaos left him) began to stir in response to his distress that he reined in his angry, self-mocking thoughts. Yuffie would have nagged at him to cheer up, had she seen him, probably reinforcing her demand with a poke in the side or a gentle tug on his hair.

Yuffie. She had been the first person to smile at him (in a non-nervous way) for thirty years, and the first person to touch him kindly, albeit clinically, in an even longer time, when she cleaned a deep scratch on his arm from an encounter with a particularly savage wolf in the foothills of Mt. Nibel. Aside from the occasional bit of inconvenient materia theft, she had never done anything to deliberately hurt him. She had actually gone out of her way to befriend him.

When Lucrecia walked away from his love, she had wanted nothing at all from him, not his friendship, not his protection, not even his presence. Perhaps she had been trying to shield him, perhaps she simply hadn't cared. All he knew was that it had hurt.

Despite the fact that Yuffie was unaware of his feelings, he couldn't help feeling sure that it would happen again. But by the time his meandering journey ended and he reached his home in Edge and switched his PHS on again, Yuffie had left him half a dozen chatty messages. They were about nothing important, just things like complaints about how rollercoasters made her sick and telling him how she had won a giant cuddly chocobo from the shooting game, giving him the credit as he had taught her to aim a gun properly. Her last message was half way between a good-natured command and concern: "switch your damn phone on, Vince! Is everything okay?" She clearly valued his friendship, but he had known that already, deep down. He knew that Yuffie had never intended to hurt him. She didn't even know that she had and he was never going to tell her.

When he calmed enough to think rationally again, he realised it was enough just to be her friend, to be in her life in any capacity. It was so much more than he deserved. Her friendship was one of the few things he had come to truly value in the last few years. There was a bond between them that could never be broken, one forged from the implicit trust shared by two people who had fought alongside each other too many times to count, and who would willingly put their life in the hands of the other without thought. It wasn't going to go away just because Yuffie was married. He would be her friend and love her from a distance. It was all he could do.

After all, technically, he hadn't lost anything.

He didn't consider the possibility of maybe finding someone else one day, now that he was so unexpectedly over his first love. He didn't fall in love easily, but when he did he was very stubborn about it. Yuffie may never know it, but she had his love, and his protection. If she ever needed him, he would be there for her. And if Kito ever hurt her, or for one moment didn't appreciate what he had, well… he didn't finish that thought, but he didn't have to. His inner Turk knew exactly what he meant.

* * *

His heart gave a painful jolt when he entered Tifa's Seventh Heaven and saw Yuffie for the first time since her wedding. She glanced upwards as he entered and smiled brightly at him, waving him over. He took in a deep breath, and released it quickly, retreating into his usual stoicism. The hardest part was over now.

Tifa seemed to be relieved to see him; he had missed the last two gatherings, one as he was journeying back and the other as he had been on a WRO mission. She opened her mouth to either chide or reassure but in the end relented and poured him a drink. He was grateful for her silent compassion.

He sat on the stool next to Yuffie, listening while she tried to cram nearly three months of news into five minutes. He could barely make any sense out of the jumble of excited words, but he could tell that she was glad to see him and he was filled with secret, inward relief.

"Breathe, Yuffie," he chided after a moment, hiding a smirk when she pulled a face at him.

"Fine, then! So what fascinating things have you been up to, Vince?" she demanded, crossing her arms in mock grumpiness.

"Working," he replied. "Travelling."

She rolled her eyes. "Wow, that was informative, Vinnie. Gimmie _some_ details."

He briefly described his WRO mission, and implied that his extended journey home had been something of a holiday. Her eyes gleamed with interest as she listened, and he found it was easier to focus on his wine as he was talking.

"That sounds so cool," she breathed when he was done, a hint of longing in her voice.

He glanced sidelong at her as she spoke. In her eyes he could still see the desire for adventure, the longing to travel. She may love Wutai and Kito, but she had given up a lot for her home and her marriage. A sacrifice willingly made is still a sacrifice, after all.

They were interrupted when Cid yelled over at Yuffie to join him. "Hold that thought, Vinnie," Yuffie said as she slid off her stool and skipped across the bar to join the pilot.

It was almost as if nothing had changed. The group dynamic was as comfortable as it always was. But as he watched Yuffie talking enthusiastically to Cid, gesturing wildly, he saw the light catch on the white-gold bands on her finger, and it hit him all over again that everything had. He looked away; it was no use thinking like that.

Kito had not come to their monthly gathering, and that admittedly made it easier for him to deal with. "He doesn't really like travelling," Yuffie explained when she was asked, wrinkling her nose slightly. She was a born adventurer; obviously she had trouble understanding that. "Gawd, on our honeymoon he totally did my head in." But she smiled as she said it and her tone was fond. "Besides, I think you guys scare him a bit."

That resulted in some surprised laughter from the others. They didn't see themselves as famous, as celebrities, but everyone else did, apparently even Kito. Despite the fact of his feelings towards her, he couldn't help thinking that it was strange to see her as part of a couple.

* * *

After the partying was finished for another month, Vincent started taking assignments for the WRO once again. Although he still found satisfaction in his work (for the first time, he had a job that actually made a positive difference to the Planet, and that was a much better form of atonement than locking himself away had ever been), he had lost the sense of almost-enjoyment he had in his work when Yuffie had been alongside him.

He missed the next gathering, again due to travelling on a mission, and although in some ways it was a relief, he knew that he couldn't keep doing it, as people would start to remark on his absences. He knew very well that if Yuffie suspected something was bothering him (more than the usual, anyway), she would demand to know what it was, and what could he possibly tell her?

After one particularly gruelling mission, he had to stop in Cosmo Canyon to re-supply and rest on his way home. Nanaki was both pleased and surprised to see him, making him think that he was right in his assumption that his friends were starting to worry about him. He accepted his invitation for a meal, hoping to quell some of those concerns.

That evening, his PHS rang, flashing up Yuffie's number. He sighed and answered it.

"Valentine."

He waited for her usual jokey reprimand on his lack of phone manners but instead

there was a pause. "… Vince?" Her voice was trembling. She'd been crying. His stomach clenched.

"Yuffie?" he asked, almost urgently.

"Uh, it's just, um… Godo died last night, Vince." She sounded shaken and he was filled with a rush of unfamiliar sympathy.

"I'm sorry, Yuffie." She sniffed loudly down the phone, making him grimace slightly despite the circumstances, glad that she couldn't see him. "… Is Kito there?" he asked, hoping that she wouldn't hear the slight edge to his voice that he couldn't quite hide, though he couldn't deny he was glad that she wasn't alone.

"Uh, he's in the pagoda right now… there's loads of official stuff we need to do before the funeral this evening and I can't _think _right now." He nodded, before remembering that she couldn't see him, not that she really needed to see him to know what his response would be.

"I see," he replied quietly. At least the boy was being useful.

"Where are you?" she asked, with sudden weary curiosity. "The signal's pretty bad."

"Cosmo Canyon," he told her quietly.

"Oh. D'you think you could let Red know for me? I can't face calling everyone."

"Of course. I will tell him." Nanaki came in time to overhear the final part of the conversation, and he looked at him in concern as he said goodbye and hung up. He shared Yuffie's sad news with Nanaki, who sighed sympathetically.

"You should go to her," Nanaki said, his single eye glinting at him knowingly. "You are friends, are you not? She will need a friend."

He didn't know how much Nanaki knew about his secret feelings for Yuffie, but he uneasily suspected that the wise animal knew more than he let on. And he was right. He had been avoiding Yuffie. Putting some distance between them was one of the reasons he had been working so much in the last few months. But that wasn't fair on her; he could hear on the phone how much she needed her friends around her. He was trying to be a better friend.

Vincent sighed quietly and began to gather his things. Nanaki bared his teeth in his version of an approving smile. "I am needed here until the day after tomorrow. Give Yuffie my sympathies and tell her I'll be there in time for her coronation."

"I will," he promised. He nodded once, both saying farewell and telling his friend to take care. He needed to go and hire a chocobo to be able to get to Wutai.

He arrived in Wutai mid-morning of the next day. He could sense the sombre atmosphere of the city as he walked to Yuffie's house. He reached out to knock on the door but it was flung open before he could. Yuffie was on the other side, blinking in surprise as she saw him. "Vinnie!" she exclaimed, suddenly wrapping her arms around him. He froze for a second, before tentatively placing a hand between her shoulder-blades.

"Hello, Yuffie," he said softly. It had been weeks since he had seen her. He'd missed her. "Are you alright?"

She made a snuffling noise that he assumed was meant to be a laugh. She looked exhausted and her eyes were rimmed with red. "I dunno." She paused. "I guess… I've just spent my whole life being angry at him and now I don't know how I feel."

He didn't reply, but Yuffie didn't expect or need him to. She pulled away and grinned tiredly at him. "Wow, you almost have a tan."

It wasn't true, but his usually ghostly-pale complexion had caught a bit of colour from travelling during the summer. He'd succumbed to the heat a few times and taken his cloak off. Vincent gave her a tiny smile in return and looked over her shoulder when he heard movement behind her. "Yuffie? Who's-?" Kito came up behind her and placed a hand on her arm, regarding him with a slightly startled look. He supposed it was still strange for him to have the members of AVALANCHE dropping around to his house.

She turned her head and gave her husband a tender little smile that struck painfully at Vincent's heart. He pushed it away. "You've met Vinnie, right?"

"Of course," Kito replied with a polite but slightly uneasy expression. "But only briefly. Aren't you needed at the pagoda?"

"Aw, crap!" Yuffie whined. "You think they'd give me a break right now! Geeze."

Kito sympathetically rubbed her arm. "Kito, show Vinnie to one of the guest rooms, would you? You are staying, aren't you, Vince?" She looked up at him with big pleading eyes and he uncomfortably realised that he'd do anything she asked if she looked at him like that. He nodded and she sent him a grateful smile. "Great. Gotta go, see you guys later. Be good!"

She dashed off, and left Vincent and Kito regarding each other warily. "Well, come this way," he mumbled, leading him to one of the spare rooms. Vincent put his pack on the bed and considered staying in there until Yuffie returned, but his plan was foiled when Kito rapped on the door and offered him a cup of tea. He didn't feel as if he could refuse his hospitality without insulting him and upsetting Yuffie.

They sat on floor cushions facing each other in silence. Vincent of course was not one for small talk, but he was not at all inclined to chat with Kito. After a while he came to realise that Kito's silence wasn't just due to the usual discomfort strangers felt in his presence but also because he was awkwardly trying befriend someone who really didn't want to be befriended.

"This is very strange," he said, after several long minutes of silence. "In some ways I feel as if we have already met properly. Yuffie has told me so much about you."

He didn't say anything in reply, but his human hand clenched his teacup tighter. Yuffie had wheedled confidences out of him that he had never told anyone else, and never would. The thought that she would share those things with her husband, a man who was a stranger to him and who was his unwitting rival, stung him with small pinpricks of betrayal.

Whether he misinterpreted his habitual silence as anger, or saw the tiny revealing gesture, Kito shook his head. "I know nothing personal about you aside from what is public knowledge." Vincent had to sigh at that. Just because he'd helped to save the world three times, various newspapers and magazines thought that they had the right to publish (usually pretty erroneous) details of his life. It was something that irritated them all, but he had more skeletons in his closet than the rest of the group, and therefore more desire for privacy. "Yuffie's stories generally go something like 'me and Vinnie were in this cool materia cave when this totally grossness crab-thing stole my shoe…,'" Kito continued, in a surprisingly good imitation of Yuffie's voice.

Vincent relaxed slightly, feeling reassured and remembering the incident with a slight hint of amusement. Kito obviously noticed the tension ease out of him as he offered him a tentative smile and some more tea. "My wife's closest friends are the ones who saved the Planet," he said with a little disbelief. "It was slightly intimidating to have Cloud Strife and Cid Highwind threatening me on my wedding day. You were the only one from AVALANCHE who _didn't_ threaten me, actually," he confided suddenly.

"I didn't think it needed saying," Vincent replied in a bland monotone, putting no emphasis on any of the words. Kito blinked, obviously not knowing whether that was a threat or a compliment. Vincent didn't enlighten him and Kito avoided meeting his crimson gaze after that.

After they had both drained their cups in silence, Yuffie returned and flopped onto a cushion in-between them both, but closer to Kito. He grimaced sympathetically and poured her some tea. She put it down and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands.

"I'm tired," she confessed with a little sigh.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Yuffie," Vincent said quietly. "Nanaki sends his condolences."

"Thanks, Vinnie," she replied, picking up her cup. She was quiet for a moment before smiling a bit sorrowfully and changing the subject. "How did your assignment go?"

Kito rose to his feet. "I'll leave you two to catch up." If he was eager to get away from Vincent he at least didn't show it. He hugged Yuffie around the shoulders from behind and dropped a kiss in her hair. She leaned back into his touch and smiled up at him. Vincent looked away at the evidence of the easy affection between them. "I'll see you later, Yuf." Kito's eyes were dark with concern as he stared down at her and then flickered over to Vincent, trying to communicate something that he didn't quite get. He guessed that he was worried for Yuffie.

She asked him lots of questions about his mission; he knew that although she was genuinely interested she was also trying to take her mind off things at home. He knew that she had loved her father, but that there had been anger and resentment on both sides of their relationship.

"It's just not fair," she sighed suddenly as the conversation paused and she returned to the topic most on her mind. "We'd just got to the stage where we could have a conversation for more than ten minutes without one of us throwing things and storming out. We were just getting to know each other again."

"I'm sorry," he said again, not knowing what else he _could_ say. She gave him a wan little smile and he struggled to find a change of topic. "Are you ready to take over the city?"

It wasn't that much of a change but it did draw Yuffie's mind away from the low place it was in. "We've been more or less running the place for a while," she told him proudly. "It's mostly pretty boring," Yuffie continued with a little grin. "There's so much paperwork! It takes forever. No wonder Reeve _still _doesn't have a girlfriend."

She talked a little more about the plans she and Kito had for Wutai, distracted from her grief for a little while. He listened; impressed with the way they had decided to do things. Part of him hated to admit it, but they definitely made a formidable team.

After a couple of hours, Kito returned, and came to join them. He excused himself as quickly as was politely possible, claiming he needed to clean up after his journey.

When he re-entered the room half-an-hour later, Yuffie was leaning on Kito's shoulder, and he was stroking her hair and kissing her forehead, obviously comforting her.

He turned away, unable to watch, and feeling as if he was intruding. It was so hard for him to see her love someone else, to see someone else love her too, to see them comfort her in a way that he was unable to do.

"Vince?" Yuffie said, obviously now aware of his presence. She stepped out of Kito's arms and wiped her eyes. "You hungry?"

He shook his head. "I will stay in the inn tonight," he informed her and she shook her head vigorously in instant disagreement.

"Why waste your hard-earned gil when you can have a comfy futon here for free?" He didn't answer, still determined to leave, and she frowned at him thoughtfully, trying to work out his motivation. Then she pulled a face. "Is it because we're acting all disgustingly newlywed?" she asked him with a smirk. She took his silence as confirmation and giggled. "Oh no! Worse than Cloud and Teef?" she asked, eyes wide with faux horror. Again, she took his silence as confirmation. "Not worse than _Cid?_"

Although he had been mostly teasing her, there was an element of truth to her playful accusation. It did hurt him to see them together, not that she knew that, of course.

"No-one could be worse than Cid," he pointed out fairly (the whole of AVALANCHE had tried to block his drunken displays of affection towards Shera out of their collective memory), and she mock-sighed in relief, wiping imaginary sweat from her brow.

"You can go if you want," she said, obviously unhappy about it. "But the others will be here soon. And we'll tone down the PDA, promise."

He hesitated, wanting to go and stay in equal measure, but in the end he didn't want to inadvertently make her more miserable. "What are we eating, then?" he asked, and she gave him a brilliant smile.

"You're a great friend, Vinnie." The statement both pleased and hurt him.

* * *

The next day, the rest of AVALANCHE arrived, having come with Cid on the _Shera. _He was relieved, he wasn't sure if he could cope being alone with Yuffie and Kito for much longer. Although Yuffie had stuck to her word about the PDA, it wasn't that they were constantly touching or kissing in front of him that made seeing them so hard. It was the way they looked at each other, the way that they moved in harmony with each other without being aware of it. It was the way that, despite her grief for her father, she was so obviously _happy. _But Yuffie was distracted by the arrival of all their friends (and he was grimly amused by the fact that Kito was, in fact, intimidated by the whole of AVALANCHE).

Although Yuffie and Kito had been running Wutai for a while, they hadn't been officially instated as Lord and Lady of Wutai. The next week, they were all asked as guest of honour at her coronation.

In the end, the ceremony was relatively simple. Both Yuffie and Kito, dressed in matching, elaborate kimonos, knelt down in front of the altar to Leviathan. The royal sword of Wutai was given to Kito, the Leviathan Scale and mastered materia given to Yuffie. Some sort of holy oil was poured on their foreheads as they swore to protect their country, and rule it wisely. It was a solemn and strange ceremony to watch, Vincent thought, seeing Yuffie transform from the cheery ninja they all knew so well, into an empress.

However, when the ceremony was done, Yuffie came over and grinned at them happily, and she was herself again. She gave him the key to her pagoda. "Listen, we have to go and do some boring stuff now, but you guys don't have to be bored too! We'll see you later."

He nodded in understanding. "Congratulations," he said briefly, and she smiled up at him, before the others pulled her into hugs and attempted to ruffle her highly styled hair.

While they waited for Yuffie and Kito to come home, Tifa and Shera set out drinks and snacks that they had prepared earlier, saying that they wanted Yuffie to celebrate becoming empress rather than mourn her father all evening. He thought it was a good point.

When they arrived home, Yuffie laughed in surprise and Kito smiled at their efforts. She hugged all of them gladly, including Vincent, who gingerly hugged her back.

"Hey," she said to him with a cheeky little smirk. "That job offer is still open if you want it." He couldn't help smiling, especially when Reeve choked on his drink.

"You can't _poach _my employees right in front of me!" he protested. Yuffie laughed and hugged him again in apology, and the subject was dropped. Although she was mostly joking, he knew she would eagerly accept if he offered. But he wouldn't, spending a night with Yuffie and Kito was hard enough, seeing them together everyday would be nothing short of torture.

Yuffie went back to Kito, who was lingering on the outskirts of the group awkwardly. She took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Kito relaxed a little and smiled as she pulled him forward. "I still don't know why they gave me the sword," Kito complained suddenly. He was holding it gingerly, as if it was a snake that could turn in his hand and strike him. "I don't know how to use it."

"It's not hard; you just stick the pointy end into the other person. It's not like its brain surgery or anything," Yuffie told him. "Right, Spiky?" She added cheekily, poking her tongue out at Cloud. He just rolled his eyes, but Tifa laughed and nudged him in the ribs.

Barret lumbered up to join them, throwing a heavy metal arm around Kito's shoulders. "C'mon foo'! You an honouree member of AVALANCHE now, gotta learn to drink like one." He took the sword from him with his other hand and thrust the hilt at Yuffie, then led Kito to a table where Cid was sitting, already covered in beer and champagne bottles, as well as traditional sake cups.

"Oh gawd," Yuffie said, staring after them. "Do you think I should go and rescue him?"

Tifa shook her head with a smile. "Leave them to their male bonding. What's the worse that could happen?"

There was a moment when they all thought about that. Yuffie groaned and Cloud laughed smugly. She poked her tongue out at him again, crossing her arms, then flopped into the seat next to Vincent, the royal sword of Wutai clattering to the floor.

She was obviously exhausted, both physically and mentally, far too tired to really appreciate the small party that had been thrown together for her, but obviously glad that all her friends were around her.

* * *

He bumped into her in the kitchen very late that night, so late it was actually early, making hot chocolate. She gave him a sleepy little smile. "Want some?" she offered.

Vincent nodded. His room was next door to Cid's and he was snoring very loudly. There was no chance he would get any sleep. He had no idea how Shera managed to cope with it.

He watched as she poured the dark liquid into two mugs. Yuffie was wearing mismatched, clashing pyjamas, unembarrassed as they had all seen each other in their sleep-wear too many times to count. Her face was shiny, scrubbed clean of all make-up and her hair was tousled. She no longer looked like an empress but he thought she looked beautiful, even so. "Are you not tired?" he asked quietly. It had been a long few days for her.

She rolled her eyes as she pushed one of the mugs towards him. "Kito's snoring his ass off. It was either get up and do something or smother him with a pillow. I totally blame Barret and Cid for this, you know. They've corrupted him." She took a sip of her drink and winced when she burnt her tongue. "I hope he has a hell of a hangover tomorrow," she added grumpily.

"Hn." He smirked a bit but offered no other comment. They talked quietly for a while, or rather Yuffie talked and he listened, sometimes adding a remark if necessary. So much had changed for both of them, but nothing had changed between them. He hadn't spent much time alone with her since she was married and was relieved to find that the friendship between them was as natural as it had been before. He realised again just how much he enjoyed her company. She was his friend, his best friend, and that was no small thing.

After the coronation, Yuffie still rang him several times a week, and invited him to Wutai frequently, and though he didn't go, their friendship remained strong and unbroken. He saw her practically every month, both with and without Kito, and became used to seeing them together, holding hands and stealing kisses when they thought no-one was watching. It was becoming easier for him to see.

One month, neither of them arrived at Tifa's bar. "It's her wedding anniversary," Tifa explained when Cid asked where she was. "I've been assured that her plans for this weekend _don't _involve us."

Cid swore, and then laughed. "D'you think there'll be baby brats coming along soon?" he asked.

Vincent didn't reply. He supposed that would hurt a little again, but he was used to it by now.

He wasn't unhappy, not really. He was more at peace now than he had been at any other time since his childhood. It was only sometimes, late at night when he was alone and sleepless, that he wished things could be different.

A few weeks later, Vincent answered his phone one morning and didn't recognise Reeve's voice for a moment as it was so strained and tense. "Vincent… we have to go to Wutai. Kito's been shot."

* * *

_A/n- Apologies that this has taken so long to get out, but my laptop was poorly. So poorly in fact, I thought it might be terminal. But fortunately, that was not the case and it's back home and doing well._

_This chapter is mostly filler, I know, but I thought we needed to see Vincent's reaction and how he reacts to Yuffie and Kito. But what's happened to Kito? It'll be a while before we find out, however, as the next chapter is in Yuffie's PoV and it backtracks a bit, and will mostly be about her relationship with Kito._

_Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! And thank you to everyone who gave messages of sympathy about my hair, it really helped. And thanks also to the people who put me on alerts and favourites, but I would like to know what you guys think, so again, please review! _


	3. Chapter 3

Yuffie's first reaction when Godo told her about her impending marriage was an instant, indignant "no way!" She was horrified at the very suggestion. She and Godo had a mega-huge argument about it. That wasn't unusual in itself (once, eleven year old Yuffie had run away from home for three days after a fight about using the wrong teacups got totally out of hand) but this one had been like Wutai War III.

He shouted at her, demanded that she do her duty. She just yelled right back; when had she ever not? He'd told her to fight and steal and she had- if he had wanted some obedient porcelain doll for a daughter, he should never have sent her away.

That hadn't gone down well _at all _and when the row escalated, she did what she always did when under pressure from her father. She ran away.

It just seemed so _unfair. _Just when everything was going so well, this had to happen.

For once, there were no evil corporations sucking the juice up out of the Planet, no one-winged angels swooping around causing trouble, no mad scientists doing mad things- everything was settling down and she was no longer free to enjoy it! Instead, her dad was sick (and that was more troubling than she'd ever admit) and she had to marry some loser who she'd had a grudge against for years (he'd thrown his juice at her and she was the one who got in trouble for it- she knew it was petty but it still rankled in the way childhood injustices sometimes did, even years afterwards). She really, _really,_ didn't want to go through with it.

She only snapped out of her troubled thoughts when she found herself outside Vincent's front door. Since the whole Deepground thing, she and Vinnie had become really good friends. He was her best friend, in fact (though she'd never tell Tifa that).

This puzzled the others, but Yuffie just figured that since she talked too much and he didn't talk enough, they balanced each other out. Although he was still prone to disappearing for days at a time without telling anyone, and could still be almost unbearably quiet, he seemed to be more at peace with himself. He even smiled occasionally these days, something that still delighted her every time she saw it, and he had recovered something approaching a sense of humour from somewhere. She could talk to him about serious stuff and she knew he would listen (and listen without making snide remarks about being surprised at her ability to think). She had learned that Vincent had a very clear way of thinking about things, even if sometimes it was admittedly a bit of a morbid and depressing way of thinking. Still, she trusted him more than anyone and he was the person she turned instinctively to for advice.

He hadn't had any miracle solutions, but he did manage to feel so much better about the whole problem. And of course, he figured out a way to stop her being trapped forever in Wutai, which was a very good thing. She was more grateful than she could say for his support, and his quiet sympathy. Vincent gave her the strength to gather her courage and return home to face her responsibilities.

She knew, she had always known, that there was no real choice for her. She would do anything for Wutai. It was just easier when doing anything for Wutai involved something she enjoyed, travelling around the Planet, 'liberating' materia, for example.

She would just have to grit her teeth and get on with it. So, when she arrived back home she said "Yes" to Godo before he could even open his mouth to lecture her on her duty. She felt quite smug at his expression of dumfounded shock, and quickly took advantage of his speechlessness to put Vince's sneaky plan into operation. Before he could recover, she'd wrangled his agreement to monthly visits to her friends in Edge, and assisting the WRO in emergency cases. Although that made it better, she still wasn't exactly happy.

All she could see was what she was going to lose. She wouldn't be able to work for Reeve anymore, in a role she truly loved. She wouldn't be able to see Cloud and Tifa practically everyday, or have fun helping out in the bar when it was busy. She wouldn't be able to watch Marlene and Denzel grow up right in front of her. She wouldn't be able to stop by and bug Cid or Barret or Red whenever she wanted. She would miss out on watching Shelke develop her own personality. She wouldn't be able to tramp around the Planet with Vincent, righting wrongs and hunting materia. They'd even started doing fun stuff together, but that would all change when she went back to Wutai.

She was going to have to trade her freedom for the life of responsibility she always knew was waiting for her, but that she wasn't ready to accept. And she was _not _happy about it.

* * *

She and Kito hadn't exactly taken to each other at their first meeting. She resented him, and resented being forced into the whole stupid situation, and hadn't exactly been subtle about her feelings. His only redeeming quality, in her eyes, was that he was as reluctant to go through with it as she was. At least he wasn't sucking up to her because she was a princess, or because she was 'that short girl from AVALANCHE' like a lot of the guys she met. He'd probably expected to marry some mild-mannered, pretty Wutainese girl who didn't answer back. Instead he was stuck with a loudmouth, tomboyish ninja. If she hadn't felt so annoyed with him, she might have actually felt sorry for him.

Godo insisted on Kito acting like some kind of old-fashioned suitor, which meant that she never had a moment alone. If she wanted to go somewhere in the city, he'd escort her and they were forced into spending their evenings together, either bickering about nothing or ignoring each other. He would sit and observe the classes she taught to the youngest ninja trainees, and her own personal training sessions. She spent about three months wanting to scream in frustration (couldn't he just leave her alone for _five damn minutes?_) and her visits to her friends in Edge, where she could vent her feelings freely, were the only things keeping her sane.

She had never met anyone who irritated her as much as him, or who could rile up her temper so quickly. He was just so closed-minded! She wanted Wutai to be great again, of course she did, but Kito didn't seem to realise that she had spent years fighting for that to happen. He accused her of dismissing their traditions, and that wasn't true, not at all. She wanted Wutai to be the strong warrior nation her mother and grandmother had told her stories about, but she knew that to do that, they had to grow rather than stagnate. What was so hard to understand about that?

Their arguments actually got a little too personal. He was critical about her dislike of having long hair and wearing traditional outfits; she threw his lack of ninja ability back in his face. If she hadn't been aware that Kito genuinely cared about the future of Wutai, she would have refused to go through with it, Godo's illness or not. It took months for them actually have a conversation that didn't dissolve into childish name-calling.

On one evening, they had a huger-than-usual fight about whether Wutai should ally itself with the WRO. Yuffie, not surprisingly, was all for it, Kito more suspicious. She'd been in the middle of a full-blooded, passionate rant about his stupidity when she caught a flicker of movement from the corner of her eye.

Before she quite knew what had happened, Kito pushed her back against the wall, placed his hands on either side of her face and kissed her soundly, with just as much fury as passion. She was sure that was not the usual response to being called a 'chocobo-brained moron.'

She could have fought him off easily, no problem. So why didn't she?

Eventually he broke away, looking at her with annoyance, confusion and something that made her stomach tighten with nerves. He stalked away without saying anything, and, flustered without knowing why, Yuffie left a little early for her monthly trip to Edge.

* * *

Until Tifa brought it up, it genuinely hadn't occurred to her that she fancied him. She'd just assumed that the rise of emotion Kito always managed to provoke in her was nothing more that irritation. She would never have dreamed it was something stronger.

When she returned from Edge, a lot of the tension between them was eased, but there was now a different type of tension between them, one that filled her with anticipation rather than annoyance. She wasn't sure whether it was better or worse than before.

However, it did call a cease-fire to the hostilities, and with their new truce, they were able to discuss their plans in a more reasonable light. It turned out that their ideas for Wutai weren't actually that different, they just had very different ways of going about them. Yuffie tended to just look at the big picture, whereas Kito was focused more on each individual step. Their arguments gradually turned into enthusiastic planning sessions, much to the relief of anyone who owned a house within hearing distance of them.

After a while, their conversations drifted from just Wutai to talking about each other, and she was surprised to find that they weren't as different as she had always assumed. Once, after she had offered him a tentative compliment about the ring he was wearing, he had nodded in acceptance, then added quietly; "It was my father's. He died in the war."

She looked at him in surprise. "Really? My mama died in the war, too." He nodded again at that, though of course he already knew. But then he described hesitantly how he had missed him and how he had felt responsible for his sickly mother and younger sister at just fifteen, and his vague resentment towards the uncle who had tried to take his father's place. She listened sympathetically, understanding totally. She told him about how she had tried so hard to bring her father out of his grief by making him proud of her, but that for a long time he had resented her for being the image of her mother. And then of course _she _had resented _him. _

Kito understood what she meant, too, and the firm foundations of a friendship had developed between them. She was glad; it would make being married a lot easier if they could at least be friends.

Although they did have other things in common too, such as a few shared favourite books and bands, their differences really did outweigh their similarities. Kito was quiet and soft-spoken, his temper usually well-controlled (when she wasn't winding him up, anyway), whereas she was loud and boisterous, and as quick to anger as she was to forget. He was the kind of person who knew things like constellations and the names of trees, and who could quote from works of famous philosophy and literature.

He might have made her feel stupid; if it wasn't for the fact he was a little naïve. She had seen a lot more of the Planet than he had, both good and bad. But these differences only seemed to strengthen the growing friendship between them by giving them something to talk about.

But always, always, at the centre of everything, there was Wutai, the country they had both separately poured their love and devotion into. It was just beginning to occur to the both of them that that energy could be given to something, or rather _someone _else.

Things changed for good one evening after the wushu class she taught (it was something she had always done when she was home, but since she was stuck in Wutai more or less permanently she had decided to truly dedicate her time into making sure the next generation of children all grew into Great Ninjas), when, after the kids had all run out, joyful at their escape, Kito left his usual observation spot to help her put the equipment away.

When they were done, he smiled at her, the first true smile she had got from him, rather than just a polite upturning of his lips. Her heartbeat quickened as she realised just how handsome he was when he smiled like that. "Do you remember when I threw that juice at you?"

_"Yes,"_ she replied, letting him know exactly what she had thought about that.

"Can you blame me?" he asked, his smile turning slightly rueful. "It's not easy being beaten up by a girl."

She laughed. "I hear that a lot, you know." Kito laughed too, and when she met his eyes, dark and clever and looking at her so _intensely, _she had to duck her head to hide a blush. What was wrong with her?

He kissed her again that evening, gently, on her doorstep after he walked her home, making her feel like the heroine from an old film. It had taken almost half-an-hour of giggling and squeals so girlish she hadn't been aware she was able to produce them, before she calmed enough to phone Tifa (who just got her all giggly and excited again anyway) for an in-depth discussion of everything that had just happened. She couldn't _wait_ until tomorrow.

The only bad thing was that Godo annoyingly went overnight from nagging her to make an effort to spend time with Kito to threatening to have them chaperoned.

Seriously, could he not make up his mind?

* * *

She actually started to enjoy spending all that time with him, she wanted to know everything about him, and she wanted to figure out what made him tick. She was getting to know him better than she had ever known anyone. They went for long walks or chocobo rides, wanting to escape from the hordes of curious people staring at them.

She got to know his mother and sister, who were both very friendly and welcomed her as part of their family. He taught her how to play chess. She taught him how to play (and cheat at) poker. They began to use nicknames for each other. And of course, they spent _a lot _of time making-out.

Kito felt the same way about her; he wanted to get to know her just as much. He was genuinely interested in her time with AVALANCHE, which was of course a huge part of her life, and not just in the Planet-shaking events such as the battle with Sephiroth, but in the small stories that meant so much more to her. It actually took her a while to realise that he was a little star-struck, but she supposed that it was kinda understandable. After all, they had saved the world. Three times. As she told him a story involving Cloud, Cid and a Transform materia gone awry, she thought he was going to have a heart attack when she casually referred to them as 'Spiky' and 'Gramps.'

She'd laughed at his shocked response to her apparent disrespect to some of the saviours of the Planet. "They're my friends, Ki. We all have nicknames for each other."

He nodded, seeming a bit dazed. "What do they call you, then?" he asked curiously.

"Brat or kid, mostly," she replied, and he huffed, offended on her behalf, but she just shrugged with a smile. She was long past seeing it as demeaning; she knew that it was meant affectionately. It was just nice to have someone to share all her stories with.

When they were together, they just _sparked, _whether those sparks were of irritation or passion. She had a feeling that they would probably always argue, but that was okay with her. She thought he looked cute when he was angry.

Her friends ranged from surprised to amused when they all learned of the change in her relationship with Kito, but they remained as supportive as they had always been. She had Tifa for good, girly advice, and although Vincent had once pointed out grumpily that he was hardly the right person to give out relationship advice, he didn't seem to mind her chattering on at him whenever she was excited or overwhelmed. She was glad things had worked out this way, and that her friends could share in her happiness.

Although Kito could be almost boringly serious at times, after she got to know him better she realised that he had a sense of humour that ranged from dry to downright mischievous. She'd lost count of the times he made her laugh so hard she struggled to breathe.

He had a strange talent for doing impersonations; he could imitate almost anyone's inflections of speech and habitual gestures. Yuffie found it funniest when he did impressions of Godo, puffing out his cheeks and adopting a pompous air. It cracked her up every time.

Unfortunately for Kito, after one particularly boring council meeting, he'd launched into a spirited impression of her father giving orders without either of them noticing him standing in the doorway. She'd been doubled over with laughter, clutching at her ribs and wheezing before she looked up to see him standing there. She really did try and warn him, but she was too out of breath, and he only realised that Godo was there when he cleared his throat irritably. Kito's eyes widened, and he mouthed "oops" to her before turning to face his future father-in-law.

Godo was a better sport about it than she expected (possibly just pleased that he had made her laugh), though they _did _have to sit through a lecture on respecting their elders. Kito sat with his head bowed, trying to look properly chastened, but she could see him struggling to keep a straight face.

As she looked at him, laughter dancing in his eyes and a smile on his lips that was trying so hard to be innocent, but could only really be described as impish, she knew that she was totally done for. She had a very strong suspicion that she was falling in love with him. And it was scary because the idea _didn't_ actually scare her that much.

Even so, when both Godo and Kito both separately suggested setting a date for the wedding, she resisted. She wasn't ready yet. She needed more time to get used to this new idea. And despite her budding feelings, being forced into marriage still grated.

* * *

Although she was actually quite happy spending most of her time in Wutai, when Reeve called her to request her help in exterminating a dragon that had come out of the mountains and wandered just a bit too close to Rocket Town, she accepted eagerly (smugly reminding an annoyed Godo of their agreement). It would be good to do that sort of thing again. She was a bit worried she was getting rusty.

Kito wasn't happy about her going for so long, and with a start she realised it was because he was going to miss her. With even more of a start she realised she was going to miss him too, but she was still looking forward to the mission and to spending some time with Vinnie. Even though things were going well in Wutai, she did miss her friends, very much.

Kito stood with her as she waited for her lift, obviously a bit nervous but trying to hide it. She looked down the street, seeing the familiar flash of red and black coming towards her. "Kito!" she exclaimed, taking his hand and pulling him after her. "There's someone I want you to meet." It was about time that she started introducing him to her friends.

Vincent looked up as she jogged towards him, his eyes flicking behind her impassively for a moment, before returning to her face.

"Hi Vinnie!" she said, grinning up at him.

"Yuffie," he returned politely. "Cid is waiting outside the city. Are you ready to go?"

She indicated her backpack and Conformer. "Yup! But before we go, I just wanna introduce you two. Kito Matsuri, this is Vincent Valentine, Vincent, this is Kito."

"Pleased to meet you," Kito offered, but Vincent only nodded briefly. He seemed to be exuding this aura of extreme _grimness, _even for him, and she could feel Kito take a step back. Yuffie rolled her eyes at him, turning back to her fiancé when he tugged lightly at her hand.

He pulled her a few steps away from Vincent, who looked away either from politeness or disinterest. "You will take care, won't you?" he asked in a soft, worried voice.

She touched his cheek gently. "I'm a _Great Ninja, _remember?" she assured him. "I'll be just fine." She chastely brushed his lips with hers, conscious of the interested eyes of her people on them. "See ya in a few days!"

She dropped his hand and hurried to catch up with Vinnie, who was already striding away. He was silent until they left the city, before glancing down at her. "… so that was Kito." She cocked her head and regarded him curiously, not able to read his tone.

It wasn't approving or disapproving, but it wasn't his usual calm monotone, there was an edge to his voice she didn't understand. He sounded almost mad, but she couldn't think of anything she'd done recently to piss Vinnie off. Shrugging lightly, she dismissed it.

"Yeah." he made a tiny noise in his throat, acknowledging that she had spoken but not replying. He didn't respond to any of her other questions about him or about their mission, so, a little irritated, she sped up her pace to beat him to the _Shera. _She exchanged her customary greetings/insults with Cid, before making her way to her usual spot on the deck. Vincent was already there, arms folded.

After a little while of his inexplicable bad mood, she sighed. "What's with you?

You're pricklier than a man who's just sat on a cactaur." Vincent glared mildly at her, obviously not caring for the comparison, before the glare melted into a slight frown as he thought about her question.

But before he could reply, they were called to the bridge to be briefed. Vincent seemed almost relieved to drop the subject, which only made her more curious. She resolved to get it out of him while they were working.

Unfortunately, tracking down the dragon and fighting it took up almost all their time and energy so she had to let Vincent's bad mood go. He did seem a little happier after a couple of days of travelling, though, and by the time the _Shera _dropped her off at Wutai, his bad mood had almost totally faded. Although she was sorry to say goodbye, she was glad to be back in Wutai.

When she arrived back, before she let her father know she was alright, or even before she went home to unpack and change, she went to see Kito. The open look of surprise and pleasure on his face when she turned up unannounced on his doorstep made her breath catch, and when his arms closed tightly about her, she realised that she was _home. _Not in Wutai, but with him. And it was only the remnants of her stubborn pride that was preventing him from becoming her permanent home.

Godo actually shed tears when she told him to set a date for the wedding, and Kito just let out a happy laugh before hugging and kissing her excitedly. She was still a little nervous, but she was sure about her feelings for Kito. He challenged her. He infuriated her. He made her laugh. And she loved him more than she believed possible.

* * *

Kito even proposed to her. After they had both agreed to the marriage, nothing short of actual murder would have got them out of it. A genuine proposal was an unnecessary, silly, sweet, adorable, and utterly romantic thing to do.

They'd been walking in the orchard in his family's garden, when he had turned to face her with an unexpectedly solemn expression. "Yuffie," he said, voice serious. "I have to ask you something."

"What, Kito?" she replied, alarm only fading into amusement, and then happiness, when he dropped to one knee and it registered in her mind what that meant.

"Yuffie Kisaragi," he asked formally, but not without a smile. "Will you marry me?"

"Hmm," she responded, keeping a straight face though she knew her eyes would be full of laughter. "I'll have to think about it." She paused for a second as he looked up at her with amused exasperation. "Oh, go on then." She smiled down at him, not teasing anymore. "Yes, I will."

He opened a box she hadn't noticed at first and slid a white-gold ring onto her finger, one topped with a small but _very _sparkly diamond. Gawd. He knew her so well already. He looked at her hand with satisfaction before standing up again and smiling. "I didn't want us to get married without actually asking you first."

She laughed and hugged him. He returned her embrace, then stepped back, taking her left hand in both of his. "Do you like it?" he asked, tracing the ring with his thumb.

"Yes," she smiled, and it was true, even though generally she didn't wear jewellery (ninja training had taught her that jewellery was just something that could be grabbed during a fight).

He seemed pleased, but oddly nervous. "Good. Yuffie… I know that neither of us chose this… but I do love you."

He really did. She could see it in his eyes, feel it in the slight tremor in the hands that still held hers and it made her heart flutter strangely. She hadn't felt this nervous since the time they had first seen Meteor in the sky, knowing that death was hurtling rapidly towards them. She made a strange little squeaky noise, halfway between a giggle and a sob, before she got control of her voice again. "I love you too, Kito," she whispered.

His face broke into a huge beaming smile, and he pulled her close and kissed her thoroughly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back just as enthusiastically, her heart pounding so much from sheer joy she thought it might explode right out of her chest.

Of course when Godo saw the ring glittering prettily on her finger, he hadn't been able restrain himself from smiling smugly. She hadn't minded though, even Godo had to be right about something once in a while, and she was just glad that Kito was thing he was right about.

* * *

The month before her wedding, she had brought the wedding invitations for her friends in Edge with her on her monthly visit, wanting to deliver them properly. She handed most of them out, but eventually was only left with Vincent's. She glanced around for him, but couldn't find him, and Tifa tilted her head towards the roof.

She followed him out and looked at him staring up at the stars. Although he was alone, he wasn't brooding moodily as he would have been a few years ago; he was just taking a break from the smoke and the noise downstairs. She was so proud of him. She supposed she should tell him that sometime. She went to join him and handed him his invitation.

"You can RSVP now, if you like," she told him idly, watching the stars and trying to spot the constellations that Kito had taught her.

"I do not know if I will be there," he replied, his voice sounding… odd, for Vincent. But the hurt that filled her with that statement prevented her from wondering why.

"You're not coming to my _wedding?_" she demanded, not able to believe it. He shifted awkwardly. Usually, she would have found seeing him so uncomfortable pretty amusing, but right now she was far too upset to do so.

She interrupted the start of his hesitant excuse. "Is it because I didn't ask you to be a bridesmaid? Coz we can work something out…" She genuinely couldn't believe that he didn't want to come. She couldn't help grinning at his annoyed expression, but still felt hurt. "Seriously, what's up?" She guessed that he might find going to weddings and stuff hard, but come on! He'd gone to Cloud and Tifa's without making a fuss.

Why didn't he want to go to hers?

"I meant only that I have to check with Reeve. I'm sure he'll give me the time off," Vincent's calm voice replied.

She practically melted with relief. "He had better, or I'll be introducing my Conformer to some interesting parts of his anatomy!" His sarcastic reply made her laugh; he really was starting to lighten up.

She gave him some good-humoured orders about his clothing, but she honestly didn't care what he wore, as long as he was there. He'd heard her go from complaining about getting married to actually looking forward to it, the whole saga. He had to see it through to the end! It wouldn't be the same without him there.

* * *

On her wedding day, she wasn't at all nervous; she was full of a giddy excitement that seemed to confuse Tifa and Shera, who both seemed to think that nerves on your wedding day were compulsory. She hadn't even made a single emergency escape plan, or anything. She knew that she loved Kito, and that he loved her too. What more was there?

The only thing that she was a bit worried about was whether she looked stupid in her kimono. She hadn't worn one since she was a little girl and part of her couldn't help wondering whether she looked like some kid playing dressing-up. Eventually, Tifa got tired of telling her that she looked pretty, and suggested that she got a male opinion.

Of course there was only one guy she trusted enough for that (aside from Kito, who was disqualified for obvious reasons)! And of course, Vincent managed to reassure her on her appearance. She was a little startled by the look in his eyes when he saw her, but then realised he'd only even seen her dressed up once before, at Cloud and Tifa's wedding, so it was no wonder he was surprised to see her in a fancy-schmancy kimono.

"You look… truly lovely, Yuffie," he told her softly, and she felt better immediately. Vinnie didn't often give compliments but he was always sincere when he did. She was so glad he'd come, she would've had to hunt him down and drag him here if he hadn't. How could she possibly get married without her best friend watching?

After Vincent returned to the pagoda, they began to get ready to leave themselves. Tifa seemed oddly flustered. Yuffie thought it was funny that she was more nervous about walking down the aisle than she was herself.

Godo was almost in tears again, which wasn't like him. Maybe he was just relieved to be getting rid of her. Any lingering resentment she had for Godo melted away however, when he presented her with the necklace her mother had worn on their wedding day, and whispered that he was proud of her, something she had wanted to hear from for as long as she could remember. It was only Tifa's frantic whispering about her mascara that stopped her from getting a bit teary herself. Godo took her arm, ready to lead her down the aisle.

As she looked at Kito, standing waiting for her and looking so handsome in his kimono, she couldn't believe how lucky she was. She had secretly been dreading her wedding day, ever since she was old enough to understand what an arranged married could mean her giving up. She'd been dreading it even more since she seen some of her friends' weddings, and how joyful they were. But here she was, on the day that actually was turning out to be the happiest of her life, marrying a man she had come to love, and who was looking at her as if she was a precious piece of materia.

The ceremony passed in a blur. Before she knew it, she was officially Yuffie Kisaragi-Matsuri and it was evening, and the dancing had started. She couldn't believe her wedding day was nearly over.

She even got Vincent to dance with her, much to her surprise. He must have taken her seriously when she told him he had to be nice to her. She couldn't stop smiling. Her heart was overflowing with happiness. Everyone she loved was in the same place, helping her celebrate her wedding. She could practically _see _her mother and Aerith beaming at her from the Lifestream. It was that love, and that happiness, that caused her to spontaneously hug Vinnie at the end of their dance. She was just so happy that he had come!

She'd insisted on the Gold Saucer for their honeymoon, once she discovered Kito had never been (that was practically a crime, in her opinion) and although he agreed, he hadn't seen hugely bothered. "As long as we're together," was his only comment.

On their wedding night, they had both been a little nervous, almost shy, but they soon got over that. She didn't think she'd ever have enough of touching him.

* * *

On their return to Wutai, they moved into her little house on the edge of the city, and settled in to their lives together. They didn't live in quiet domestic bliss, because she was neither quiet nor domestic, but they were happy. Living together was an adjustment for them both; she was too used to being independent and he was too used to being private, but they were learning to cope with each other's bad habits. They got by on a series of small compromises; for example, she would stop leaving her throwing stars on the floor if he would stop freaking out if she accidentally rearranged his bookcase. She was just glad that he was there.

As much as she had claimed that she could run Wutai alone, she was glad that she didn't have to. Kito didn't guide her, but he helped her and gave her someone to brainstorm with. Even with all the extra responsibility, and her dad's increasing frailty, she could honestly say she had never been happier.

Kito was still shy of her friends, which made her both laugh and roll her eyes. He didn't come to their monthly gatherings in Edge, no matter how much she tried to persuade him.

"Fine, stay here," she eventually sighed in defeat. "Just don't usurp the throne while I'm away."

"Darn," he muttered with a laugh, before kissing her goodbye. She was already looking forward to coming home; it was so different to how she felt this time last year!

She was never gladder that she had him than when Godo's illness worsened. They moved into his pagoda to be on hand for him, and when he finally died, seeming more at peace than she could ever remember seeing him, Kito had just held her tightly, before taking care of all the details she wasn't ready to think about.

Even so, she was surprised and touched when Vincent showed up, just the day after she called him. She hadn't seen much of him since the wedding, and she'd missed him. It meant a lot that he would come and see her when she really needed her friends around her.

Their coronation was a day of bittersweet emotions for her, both pride and grief, but Kito was there, squeezing her hand tightly as they knelt before the altar, and she knew she could face anything with him by her side. Her gratitude did take a bit of a knock when he spent the whole of that night drunkenly snoring, but she didn't mind too much. She spent the night chatting to Vinnie, happy to catch with him.

The morning after the party was the morning Kito got over his nervous awe of her friends. Anyone who had seen AVALANCHE hung-over would never use the word 'intimidating' to describe them. It was a good thing Sephiroth had never seen them like that, really. If it meant he would join her on her trips to Edge, she could only be glad.

Her days were very busy, but she was still happily newlywed. Waking up next to Kito every morning still made her heart jump a little bit. She missed her dad, and was occasionally too stressed for words, as leading Wutai was much harder work than she had ever guessed. They couldn't please everyone, people either thought they were making too many changes, or not enough, and it got on her nerves. Despite all that though, she was happy.

The only thing was that she didn't get to spend as much time with her friends as she would like, though she was glad that Kito occasionally came with her to Edge. Most of AVALANCHE stopped by Wutai to visit her occasionally, aside from Vinnie, despite her invitations. Even if she didn't see him as often as she would like, he almost always answered his phone to her (since he'd figured out that if he didn't, she'd just act all indignant about the time he had told Cloud that she had "no right" to call him and that usually cost him a piece of mastered materia as an apology).

Before she knew it, they were celebrating their first wedding anniversary. Where had the time gone?

* * *

Despite being a princess, Yuffie had never really believed in fairytales. The war had knocked that belief out of her at quite a young age. But she seemed to have stumbled into her own happily-ever-after, happy enough to last for a whole lifetime.

Later, when she looked back, she supposed she should have known better.

* * *

_A/N: Bit of a change of tone in this one, I hope it didn't bore anyone. I just think for this plot to work we need to see Yuffie and Kito together. I'm glad no one seems to hate him for stomping unknowingly on Vinnie's heart and hope that you think the progress of their relationship is realistic. I struggled quite a lot with this chapter, oddly I found writing from Vincent's perspective much easier, so I really would like some feedback, please!_

_Thanks to everyone who's reviewed the last two chapters. Please forgive any mistakes, I really do proof-read but they just sneak in!_


	4. Chapter 4

Vincent spent the time waiting for the _Shera_ with Reeve, trying to get a better picture of what had happened in Wutai. It was still unclear, but from the accounts of Reeve's people in Wutai and from the various news reports it was clear that the shooting of Kito was an assassination attempt, not some sort of accident. The other thing that became clear was that the assassination attempt had been aimed at _Yuffie _and that Kito had protected her with his own body. Despite his private resentment towards the younger man, he never wanted any harm to come to him - for Yuffie's sake - and he could only feel gratitude that he had saved her. There was no news on his condition, but Vincent directed a brief prayer towards Leviathan, just in case it would do any good.

When they all finally arrived at Wutai, he knew that his prayer had been useless. The large ceremonial bell was knelling sonorously, proclaiming to all that the Lord of Wutai was dead. The city was militarily sealed, but AVALANCHE was well known to be associated with Yuffie, so they were escorted by a group of grim-faced ninjas to her house and told to wait for her there, and not to wander the streets. They sat awkwardly on Yuffie's floor cushions, not talking, listening to the bell and waiting for their youngest member.

When Yuffie eventually arrived, her eyes were red and tears were shimmering in them, but she was not crying, and although her hands were shaking, her mouth was pressed in a firm line. She barely acknowledged their presence, ignoring Tifa's attempt to hug her and the quiet sympathy offered by the others, moving around them to get her Conformer and to strap on the bulky shoulder-guard none of them had seen her wear since she was sixteen.

"Yuffie," Tifa asked at last. "What are you doing?"

"I have to go and sort this out," she mumbled, not looking at them as she continued swerving around them, gathering weapons and materia.

"Yuffie," Tifa tried again, taking her arm and turning her around. "You need to… you've had a terrible shock, you need to sit down."

Yuffie finally lifted her head to meet their eyes. Vincent felt his stomach tighten with a peculiar form of fear. Yuffie's usually sparkling grey eyes were the dull colour of ash and dead embers, filled with such desolation it was painful to just look into them. But underneath the misery in her eyes, he could see a slow, burning anger that worried him just as much as her grief.

"Yuffie," Tifa murmured in shock and sympathy. "Please…"

"I can't stay here," Yuffie said, her voice flat and resonating with anger, though the anger was not directed at Tifa. "The retaliation for this has to come from me, otherwise the Matsuri family will take their own revenge and that could start all sorts of bad trouble." It was Yuffie the empress speaking, and Vincent wondered at the surprise of their friends. Surely she had proved time and time again that she could put Wutai above her own feelings.

When Tifa hesitated, hand still on her arm, Yuffie sighed roughly. "Tifa. Let me go. I'll have all the time in the world to cry later." Although the words were said harshly, Vincent could tell by the tears that suddenly filled her eyes that they were very true.

"What are you going to do?" Cloud asked her, putting his arm around a distressed Tifa and pulling her to his side.

Yuffie's face hardened and her voice when she spoke was cutting. "I'm going to find the _bastards_ who shot my husband, and then I am going to _rip them to pieces._" She could see their shock at her words, but she turned away from it. "Help me if you want, or stay here. I don't care."

As she walked away, Nanaki said softly, "Yuffie. Revenge and justice are not the same thing. Remember that." She didn't reply, just walked out of the door. Vincent followed her. He didn't agree with her plan; not that he thought the people who had caused her so much distress deserved any better, but he knew that the violence would haunt her after her immediate anger had been assuaged. She was a ninja and had fought in many battles, but she was not cold-blooded. There would be time to talk her out of that plan later, but right then, she needed his support and his protection. Cloud and Barret trailed after them, but the others stayed at her home to help out there.

Cloud walked alongside her, scanning the area with a warrior's eye, sword balanced easily in his hands. He knew she needed action right then, not sympathy. "Yuffie," he began hesitantly. "What exactly happened?" They needed to know, if they were going to fight, but he understood that it would be hard for Yuffie to tell.

Yuffie clenched her fists, forcing down her emotions so that she could speak past them. She understood that they needed to know what was going on, as well. "We were walking back from the pagoda, when I heard a shot from the side of us." She took in a deep, shuddering breath. "I didn't see it in time, but Kito… he pushed me out of the way, and…" she couldn't finish, but she didn't have to. They all knew what had happened next.

"Do you know who's responsible?" Cloud's voice was unusually gentle as well as practical.

"A group of dissenters. They've been causing trouble for a while but I never thought…" Yuffie paused, grinding her teeth with anger before she spoke again. "They object to the dissolution of Wutai's traditions."

"Dissolution?" Cloud wondered and Yuffie made a contemptuous noise in the back of her throat, almost a growl.

"Trade and exchange with other nations. Affiliation with the WRO. Changes in inheritance laws. Women's rights in marriage and the ninja arts. Where were they when Wutai was a crappy resort town? We could be great again, but these _idiots_…" she broke off as a ninja came up to her, and they began a rapid conversation in Wutainese that was too quick for Vincent's thirty years out-of-practice knowledge of the language to follow.

"I fuckin' hate politics," Barret commented edgily, glancing around uneasily, gun-arm ready to fire.

Yuffie gestured in the direction that the ninja had walked off in. "They're down there. We've sealed off the streets so they can't escape."

"Let's go, then," Cloud said, heading off in that direction, Barret just behind him. Yuffie pulled her shuriken off her back and went to follow him. Vincent paused for a second before reaching out his hand and touching her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

"… Are you sure about this, Yuffie?" he asked and she whirled to face him, disbelief clear in her expression.

"Vincent, this isn't just murder, it's, like, _treason_ as well! What do you expect me to do, just let it go?"

"No," he replied. "But your thinking has been clouded by revenge." Her face hardened and she started to move away, but he reached out and took her arm. "Are you doing this for Wutai or for yourself?"

"You don't understand!" she hissed at him, trying to yank her arm out of his grip, but he just clamped his fingers tighter.

"… Don't I? When Lucrecia was endangered, my first impulse was to go after Hojo. You know yourself how well that worked out." Something flickered in her eyes then, understanding perhaps, and the ice in her expression melted, her bleeding heart showing through. He pressed his advantage while he could, despite his reluctance to speak of the events of his past.

"If you do this for the wrong reasons, Yuffie, you'll regret it forever. Kito wouldn't want you destroying yourself for his sake." If something good could come of what had happened to him, let it be that Yuffie didn't repeat his mistakes.

Her steely resolve faded away, and she swayed in his grip, shock and grief catching up with her. He adjusted his hold, supportive now, rather than restrictive. "Oh Vincent," she whispered brokenly. "What am I going to do without him?"

He held her gently until she seemed to get the strength back in her legs, wishing that he wasn't so useless with words. She pulled herself gently from his hold and started to walk in the same direction as the others. "…Yuffie," he began, moving to follow her.

"I'll do what needs to be done, Vinnie, nothing more. Promise." He nodded in relief and un-holstered his gun as he followed her. Their whole exchange had lasted just a few minutes, and the others hadn't even really noticed the pause.

The fight was brief and ugly. The few dissenters that had been involved in the shooting had barricaded themselves into a building, but that was no real protection from the combined force of the Wutainese ninjas and AVALANCHE members. All of the rebels were eventually killed, despite Yuffie's eventual orders to try and capture them alive. They had fought to avoid capture and they had no choice but to kill them all. Vincent stayed at Yuffie's shoulder throughout the whole short battle. He was taking no risks with her safety.

When the fight was over, Chekhov, one of Yuffie's advisers, approached her and put her hand under her chin to lift her head and look into her eyes. Something flickered in her face, and Vincent realised that she wasn't looking at her empress but at the little girl she had helped to raise. "Go home, Lady Yuffie. We'll finish up here." She looked up at Vincent over Yuffie's head. "Take her home, please."

Vincent nodded, but surprisingly it was Barret who put his hand on her shoulder and led her away. Now that the dissenters had been suppressed, Yuffie's determination was ebbing away and her grief and vulnerability were becoming clear for anyone to see.

The others had obviously been concerned for Yuffie, and when they came in, they asked a flurry of questions, but Yuffie didn't even appear to hear them. Whatever anger or adrenaline she had been running on had gone and she slumped to the floor, burying her face in her hands with a little moan. Her shirt was still covered in Kito's blood. Tifa knelt beside her instantly, putting her arms around her. Yuffie leaned heavily on her shoulder, trembling violently. Vincent watched with the others, feeling helpless. He had no idea how he could possibly help her.

* * *

One the morning of the funeral, Vincent found himself standing outside Yuffie's bedroom door with Tifa. They had both gone to ensure she was awake, but Tifa had the foresight to bring a cup of tea with her. The shoji door to her room was slid partly open, letting them see that Yuffie was indeed awake.

She was still wearing her pyjamas, her short hair was dishevelled and the shadows under her eyes were huge, indicating that she'd had a restless night. Tifa reached out to knock against the frame to alert her to their presence when she picked up a dark green yukata. At first he thought she was going to change into it, but realised it was much too big for the diminutive ninja and that it must have belonged to Kito. When Yuffie buried her face into the fabric, taking deep breaths audible even from where they were standing, he knew that he was correct. She was smelling it, trying to draw the scent of her husband into herself, to memorise it and keep it with her on the day she had to let him go forever. She clutched at the fabric, knuckles going white as she sat on the end of her futon and rocked herself back and forth, still sucking in deep breaths. Aside from a single tiny, broken cry, she made no noise.

Tifa put a hand over her mouth to stifle her own sob, and Vincent had to look away. Her grief was heartrending to watch. She shouldn't have to suffer like this, not Yuffie, who had always been the epitome of cheer and optimism. He ached for her. He knew the taste of sorrow, he had carried the bitterness of it in his mouth for decades, and the thought of his light-hearted, sunny ninja friend tasting it too was unbearable. But here she was, twenty-one years old, orphaned, widowed and utterly lost. It seemed so unfair. What could he possibly do in the face of her intense grief, aside from be there for her? He motioned that they should go and led Tifa away, knowing that Yuffie wouldn't want this unguarded moment of vulnerability to be witnessed, not even by her closest friends. They could give her a few moments to collect herself.

"I don't know how to make her feel better," Tifa murmured, hands trembling so much that he had to take the cup from her, in case she spilt the hot tea on herself.

"… We can't," he replied, hating that his words were true. Tifa looked at him angrily, before her shoulders slumped. Tifa was very maternal and protective of them all, and he knew that she felt as badly as he did that they were unable to stanch the flow of pain in Yuffie's soul. She scrubbed at her eyes, before looking at her watch.

"She needs to get dressed or she's going to be late," Tifa sighed, taking some sort of refuge in practicality. He followed her back to Yuffie's room, relieved to see that she was mostly dressed, just climbing into the final layer of her heavy kimono. She smiled weakly at them, and they greeted her quietly. What could they possibly say? Vincent thought to himself. 'Good Morning' would be completely inappropriate.

At Tifa's gesture, Vincent handed Yuffie the now lukewarm tea, and she received it silently, sipping at it automatically. It looked like it was taking everything she had just to stand up straight.

"Could you help me with my obi, Teef?" Yuffie said, voice hoarse despite the tea.

"Uh, I'm not sure how," Tifa said uncertainly, taking both ends of the wide sash.

Yuffie shrugged uncaringly "Just fasten it. Anyone who criticises the way my bow is tied today will be eating Conformer. Could you help me with my make-up as well? I look half dead." Tifa nodded, not disputing the description.

"Maybe you should leave us to it," Tifa suggested to him. He nodded once, before hesitating. He reached out and placed his gauntleted hand on Yuffie's shoulder in a gesture of silent support and solidarity. Her expression lightened very slightly.

Although she looked grief-stricken and exhausted, he still thought she was beautiful, her sorrow making her seem almost angelic. He wanted to take her somewhere far away from all her duties and pain, and just keep her safe, but he knew that he could not. But she could at least count on him being there for her, as she had been there for him so many times in the past.

He joined the others, who were all in the process of getting ready. They were wearing mostly black, and Vincent realised that no-one had mentioned that the mourning colours of Wutai were actually white, but he didn't think anyone would comment on AVALANCHE's appearance. He had removed his cloak and his leather shirt, letting his white undershirt show. Shera had made breakfast, but none of them were really eating it. Everyone looked disturbed and uneasy. It had been a long time since they had all met up for reasons other than happy ones.

Tifa and Yuffie entered then, Tifa looking upset, Yuffie's face a still porcelain mask, all her grief concealed deep inside. She shifted in slight discomfort as their gazes all fixed onto her.

"How do I look?" she asked quietly, painfully trying to joke. They had only seen her in formal dress twice before, at her wedding, and at her coronation. This kimono seemed to weigh her down more, the stark white colour of it making her look even paler. She looked so horribly fragile and he was worried for her.

Cid broke the silence. "Like a fuckin' princess," he told her gruffly.

She almost smiled. "Well, that's what I was going for. Are you all ready?" At their various affirmatives, they followed her out of the door.

Vincent knew that there was no such thing as a good funeral, but this one was particularly hard to watch. Yuffie, as head of the pagoda, had to do the death-chant and prayers for her own husband, her voice shaking, but strong and unfaltering. But when it came to lighting the funeral pyre, Yuffie fumbled with the fire materia and miscast twice. He'd never seen Yuffie struggle with materia, not even when she was exhausted or wounded.

She waited until the fire had burned itself out, long after everyone other than themselves and Kito's family had left. It wasn't until the two women, one who he recognised as Kito's sister and the other he assumed was his mother, hugged her briefly and walked away, that Yuffie left the funeral pyre.

Afterwards, they all gathered back in Yuffie's home. She stared blankly around her, looking lost in the house that had very obviously been a home for two people.

"Are you hungry, Yuffie?" Shera asked with motherly concern. She looked so pale, uncomfortable under their concerned eyes.

She shook her head. "I'm really tired," she mumbled. "I think I'm gonna take a nap." The others murmured various comments after her, hoping to soothe and reassure her. Vincent just watched her go, concern furrowing his brow.

He checked on her a few hours later. His sensitive hearing had easily detected her muffled sobs, and he had been waiting for them to stop. She was sleeping soundly, emotionally exhausted, wearing the yukata he'd seen her with before. She'd tucked her face into her elbow, burying her nose in the cloth, presumably because it still smelt like him. The too-big garment and the tear-stains on her cheeks made her look much younger than she really was. He would have given anything to ease just a little of her suffering, but he was afraid that it was beyond his power.

* * *

Most of AVALANCHE left soon after the funeral. It was unwilling, but they all had responsibilities elsewhere, and Yuffie understood. However, aside from his work at the WRO (which Reeve willingly gave him leave from) Vincent did not. He wouldn't have been his own first choice for a comforter, but he would do his best for her. The others seemed relieved that he was staying and although she didn't say so, he knew Yuffie was grateful. She hadn't even begun to grieve properly yet, and Vincent wasn't going anywhere, not as long as she needed him. And there was no way he was leaving Wutai until he was certain that there was no threat left from the dissenters. Despite the pain of his hidden feelings, she was his truest friend and she had been at his side for some of the hardest events of his life. It was about time he did the same for her.

Yuffie still had to run Wutai, but now she was doing it alone, and not just the daily running of her country but ensuring that there would be no further trouble from the dissenters as well. Nevertheless, she dragged herself out of bed every day and did her duty, but she was clearly deeply unhappy. She had turned in a shell of the vivacious girl they all knew, quiet and grief-worn. The spark had gone out of her eyes and he knew there was nothing he could do to make it come back. She worked mindlessly each day, trying to exhaust herself, trying to forget. He was sure that it was not healthy; in fact he knew it by the pinched, shadowed look on her face and the smudges caused by exhaustion rimming her eyes. She wasn't eating enough, despite his efforts.

Each night, he lay awake and listened to her tossing and turning in the room next to his, aching to go and comfort her but feeling as if it would be too intrusive.

She wasn't dealing with it, not really. She was suppressing her grief, pushing it away, burying it under her daily tasks. She didn't talk about Kito, she flinched as if she had been physically struck each time someone mentioned his name. Vincent didn't try to urge her to talk to him when she clearly didn't feel up to it (although he missed her random chatter) or get annoyed with her if she snapped at him for no reason. He knew that anger was an easier emotion to feel than sadness. He just remained a silent, supportive presence, ready to be there for her when she needed him.

He owed her this, after all. He hadn't realised it until far too late, but her bright smile and her easy, open friendship, untainted by any hint of fear, had gone a long way towards healing his own worn heart and faded soul. If he could help her heal, then he would do whatever it took. He wanted so badly to see her smile again.

But he had never seen her grieve like this. After Aerith's death, she had wept bitter tears on Cloud's shoulder but after that she had acted more cheerful than ever, trying to lighten everyone else's moods. And after her father's death she had been shaken but strong, mourning more for lost opportunities than past memories. But now it was as if something in her had died with Kito, the spark of liveliness that made her Yuffie.

Vincent understood all too well that the loss of a lover was a very different type of grief to any other.

It was a small thing that eventually broke through the dam she'd confined her grief behind. They had been sitting silently in her living room when suddenly, Yuffie started to cry. He turned to her quickly to find she had opened a book at random only to find a bookmark in it. He realised at once what had happened. The knowledge that Kito would never be able to finish his novel finally hit home and all the emotional pain she had bottled up suddenly caught up with her. He sat next to her and unhesitatingly, though slightly awkwardly, put his arms around her, and let her cry herself out into his chest. Her hands gripped the front of his cloak as the sobs tore through her tiny body, so strong he was half-afraid she would break in two. She felt so frail in his arms; she had gone from being sleekly muscled to painfully thin in just a few short weeks.

"It'll be alright," he murmured, knowing it was a lie but wanting so badly for it to be true. He stroked her hair and let her settle her face into his collarbone as he rocked her back and forth, desperate to comfort her. It was tearing him up to see the person he loved so much grieve so terribly. Although it had hurt to know she loved another man she had at least been happy. At least he had been able to see her smile, even if her best smiles were not directed at him. But seeing her like this was too horrible, too cruel.

He would have rather watched her love someone else every day for the rest of his life than see her cry for one more moment. Unfortunately, he was unable to make that trade. "It'll be alright, Yuffie."

"No it won't!" she wailed almost incoherently. "He's _dead! _Why did he do it? They were aiming for _me! _He should have just let them shoot me. He would make a better ruler than me, anyway." The words spilled out of her mouth like blood from a wound, like grief flowing directly from her shattered heart.

"He loved you," Vincent whispered, feeling a pang in his heart at the words. They were true, but so hard for him to say. She let out a strangled little cry and he clutched her tighter, suddenly afraid that if he let her go he would never be able to get her back, that her grief would swallow her down into darkness and she would be lost in it forever.

"And it killed him! You should stay away from me, Vincent; I'm bad luck to know! The people I care for the most always die… mama, Aerith, Shalua, Godo, Kito… and I can never save them, not ever. I'm cursed and I don't want you to be next!"

"That's not true," he murmured. "It was never your fault. And I'm going nowhere. I _promise_." The last thing he wanted was for Yuffie to descend into a destructive cycle of self-blame as he had done for so many years- not Yuffie who had been the sunshine for them all in the worst of times and was now curled defeated in his arms. She didn't deserve it. He would have done anything, _anything _to make her feel better but there was nothing he could do. He was helpless in the face of her crushing grief. He just held her as she cried herself to sleep and was there to soothe her when she was stirred by nightmares.

* * *

She slept for almost two solid days after that. He wasn't worried, he knew that her body needed the sleep, but by the third day he knew he would have to wake her up to insist she that ate and drank something, but when he got to her room, she was already gone.

He felt a brief, irrational moment of panic before he heard movement in her bathroom. He sighed a little as the door opened. Yuffie walked out, dressed in a green top and black shorts, her freshly washed hair pushed out of her face with a white headband. She blinked as she saw him hovering uncomfortably in her room.

"Uh, hi," she said softly and he nodded at her, watching her closely.

"Are you hungry?" he asked after several silent moments ticked by.

"Yes, actually," she replied with a little bit of surprise. He smiled softly at her and led her to the kitchen, insisting that she sat while he made her something. When he suggested omelettes, she almost smiled back at him.

"Last time you made me omelettes you left bits of the eggshells in them," she remembered out loud.

"… I promise not to do it again," he answered. She gave a little sigh that was probably meant to be a chuckle but didn't reply.

He watched her as he busied himself silently in her kitchen. He missed her usual chatter. She was hurting and he didn't know how to make it stop. "Are you alright?" he asked, seeing no way to avoid the question when she wiped her eyes while he was cooking.

"No," she replied bluntly. "But I can't sleep forever, much as I want to right now."

There was a pause while she realised who she was talking to. "Oh. Sorry."

"It's alright." The coffin hadn't been the answer to his problems, although it had taken him longer than it should have to figure it out.

The omelettes were fine when they were made, and Yuffie wolfed hers down as she hadn't eaten properly for several days. The silence that lay between them was an echoing chasm he had no idea how to fill. He had always relied on Yuffie to start their conversations. He was so useless when it came to this sort of thing.

When she was done, she sipped at her juice listlessly. "How bad is it that I want ice-cream at half-past nine in the morning?"

"I'm not judging you," he replied, glad that she was acting a little more like herself. Yuffie gave him a weak half-smile as she made her way to the freezer. She pulled out a tub of double chocolate ice-cream and a spoon, not bothering with a bowl.

"Want some?" she asked and he shook his head, feeling a little queasy at the idea of so much sugar that early in the morning. He stared at her, desperately trying to think of something to say. Yuffie glanced up, seeming surprised at his close attention.

"You don't have to hang around, you know," she said suddenly with a smile that was barely a shadow of the ones that she used to bless him with. "Not that you're not welcome, but I know I'm not much company right now."

He shook his head. How could she even think that? She'd always brought light into his life, still did, even if it was currently wavering candle-light, rather than the usual blinding sunshine. "I am never much company, but you have always put up with me."

Her smile widened at that, became more genuine, and he inwardly hid his satisfaction. "Gawd, we're such losers."

"Speak for yourself," he retorted, not able to prevent his smirk when she actually laughed for the first time since he'd arrived in Wutai. It was a weak, croaky sound, but he would take it. "I will stay for a while, if you wish."

Her eyes filled with tears again, much to his distress. "Please. I don't wanna be alone right now."

He nodded, hiding his wince at her shaky, grateful smile and the profound sadness that was just under the surface of it. He would stay as long as she needed him to.

* * *

Although Yuffie was still far too quiet and horribly sad, he knew that now she had finally acknowledged her grief, she would begin to heal. He also knew it would be a very slow process, but he helped as he could. When she wanted to work out her emotions physically, he sparred with her, and on the night she decided to drink her pain away, he kept her company, though it would have taken a lot more alcohol than she had to get him drunk. Fortunately, she realised for herself the only thing worse than being thoroughly miserable is being thoroughly miserable with a hangover, so at least that was one less thing he had to worry about.

But the main change was that she started to talk about Kito. He listened, of course, because she needed him to, but hearing about her life with her husband was not easy for him. He was jealous, and disgusted with himself for it. He was also vaguely ashamed of the fact that the only thing he had ever directly said to Kito was a not-so veiled threat. If Yuffie had been more herself, she might have noticed his inner turmoil, but she didn't, and he was glad of it. Her pain was far more important than his.

She was much quieter than she used to be, and they could sit in silence for hours before one of them broke that silence. He still wasn't used to it, and one evening when she suddenly said his name, it had been quiet for so long she actually made him jump. He'd thought she had fallen asleep.

"Yes, Yuffie?" he replied after a moment.

"Does it hurt? Being shot, I mean? Would he have been in pain?" He could see her regret for bringing up the parts of his past he would much rather not talk about, but he could also see that it was outweighed by the agony of _not knowing. _

He looked at the floor, frowning, as he considered his answer. Compared to what had happened to him shortly after, being shot was almost nothing. But at the time… yes. It had hurt. Very much so. But how could he add to the pain in her eyes by telling her that?

"It would have been very quick," he murmured instead, hoping it would suffice, but she shut her eyes, tears spilling out of the corners as she clearly heard his evasion. He moved closer to her, tentatively putting an arm around her in an awkward attempt to comfort her. She rested her head tiredly on his shoulder, like a weary child after a long day. He swallowed hard, but let her remain there.

"Thanks, Vinnie," she whispered huskily. "It was worse not knowing." She was silent again for a few moments. "I guess… I'm afraid that he was sorry he'd married me." He shifted to look at her in shock, but couldn't see her face as it was hidden behind her hair. "What if, in those last few moments, when he was in pain, he regretted marrying me? If he hadn't, he'd be alive now. What if…?"

"… Yuffie," he interrupted. He couldn't let her go on thinking like that. He hadn't really known Kito, but he had clearly loved her and Vincent couldn't stand listening to her torture herself. "The man… the man fortunate enough to have your regard had nothing to regret." He paused after speaking, the words coming instinctively and truthfully as he wanted to reassure her, but he feared that she would be able to tell of his own feelings from them. But she just gave a little sigh and thanked him, obviously too tired and upset to really analyse his words.

"It's just… I just keep thinking that I should have done more, been more careful or something, you know? I should have _known _what they were planning. I should have been able to stop it. It's in my head all the time. I think I'm going crazy." He shook his head in disagreement. It was only natural. "You understand all that, huh?" she asked him, with a tiny tilt of her lips that was meant to be a smile but wasn't.

He did and he didn't. He had loved Lucrecia; he had spent years mourning her death and feeling guilty for his failure to prevent it. He understood that very well. But Lucrecia had never really been _his. _It had taken him a long time to realise it, but he had been a long way down on her list of priorities. He had never woken up with her every day, secure in the knowledge that he was loved with the same intensity that he felt for her. And Yuffie, the only other woman he had ever loved, saw him as her most trusted friend and her confidant, nothing more. He had never had the potential, the _expectation _of a future with a woman, of children, of grandchildren, of growing old together. He had no idea how it felt to lose all that.

But he only nodded in reply. She didn't need to know all that. He knew there was nothing he could say that would convince her that Kito's death was not her fault. She would make her own resolution with that, in time.

He stayed in Wutai for just over two months before Reeve called him regretfully to ask him to take a mission for the WRO. He agreed. Yuffie wasn't 'alright', and it would be a long time before she was, but she was strong enough to be alone. He would have been considering leaving soon anyway, if only for a little while. He couldn't stay in Wutai forever, and it would be wrong to give Yuffie that impression. He wanted to support her, but he didn't want to be her crutch.

Yuffie understood when he told her, even though he hadn't told her all his reasoning. She gave him a shaky smile and a fierce, grateful hug before he left. "Thanks, Vinnie… I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here," she told him honestly.

He nodded in reply, and gently touched her shoulder. He had no doubt that she would have dealt with it, but he would never have left her to do it alone. She didn't need to know all his reasons; it was enough for her that he had been a friend when she really needed one. "Take care, Yuffie," he murmured as a goodbye. She waved as he walked away, before turning back to her house alone.

* * *

The whole AVALANCHE gang gathered in Wutai for Yuffie's 22nd birthday, wanting it to be special due to the hard time she'd had that year. It had been almost eight months since Kito's death, and Yuffie was still very much grieving for him. He'd visited her irregularly but frequently in the past few months, as had the others. He hated seeing her so sad, and this was obviously a sentiment shared by the others.

Staniv let them into Yuffie's house, promising to keep her out of the way for several hours, while they set up a party at Tifa and Shera's firm direction. Tifa was six months pregnant and a hormonal force to be reckoned with.

When Yuffie entered that evening, she shrieked in surprise when they jumped out at her (well, Vincent didn't jump), hand automatically going for one of her hidden ninja stars, before starting to laugh.

"What are you guys doing here?" she exclaimed, still laughing as she returned Tifa and Shera's warm hugs and the greetings from everyone else. "You do know my house is booby-trapped, right?"

"Yuffie," Tifa pointed out gently. "You remember it's your birthday today, don't you?"

For a second, something vulnerable and sad flashed through her eyes, before she started laughing again, as brightly and vibrantly as she ever had. Her obvious happiness - something that they all missed seeing from her, even if her constant cheerfulness had got on their nerves occasionally before now - made them smile.

"I've written the date so many times today and somehow it never occurred to me that it was my birthday! I can't believe I forgot!"

"That's coz you're gettin' old, brat," Cid commented helpfully, making Yuffie poke her tongue out at him.

"You can talk, old man," she returned snidely, before loosing interest in insulting him in the face of presents and cake. She received a lot of materia, of course, as well as a pair of shiny new boots, a necklace, and several books. She gave them all thank-you hugs, exclaiming her gratitude. Vincent accepted his awkwardly as although he was more used to affectionate physical contact these days, he'd found that Yuffie hugging him was always a little painful. He could never hold her the way he wanted. He forced himself to ignore the warmth of her body and the scent of her hair as she briefly pressed against him, instead focusing on the fact that she seemed genuinely happy for the first time in months. It was good to see.

Later, after eating and having a few drinks, everyone separated out into several smaller groups. Cid, Barret and Cloud started to play cards, watched by Shera, Shelke and Reeve in between their conversation on electronics and city planning. Yuffie and Tifa sat on piles of floor cushions, chatting too rapidly for Vincent to follow from his place in the corner. Apparently they had a whole two weeks of gossip to catch up on. Nanaki was sprawled lazily out next to them, occasionally chipping in with their conversation but mostly content to let Yuffie play with his mane while he purred happily. After a while, Yuffie waved him over.

"No brooding at my party, Vince," she commanded, and so he sat across from them on his own cushion, comfortable in their presence even if he still wasn't overly talkative. He was a little more social these days, but he would never be the life and soul of any party.

The direction of the conversation abruptly changed when Tifa stirred, placing a hand on her bump. Instantly, Yuffie leant forward and Nanaki sat up, his one eye glinting.

Vincent turned to face her, eyebrow raised. "Are you alright?" Yuffie demanded.

Tifa just shook her head and smiled. She was apparently quite comfortable sitting on her massive pile of cushions spread out on the floor and propped up against the wall to support her back. "I'm fine," she assured them. "He's just kicking."

"He?" Nanaki asked with his own version of a grin, and Tifa grinned back in response.

"Well, we don't know for sure but I have a feeling it's a boy," she told them, patting her bump lovingly.

"Is he still kicking?" Yuffie asked, and at Tifa's nod asked, "can I…?" Tifa smiled and placed Yuffie's hands over where her baby was kicking. "Are you still getting morning sickness?" Yuffie asked.

Tifa shook her head. "No, thankfully. They say the first three months are the worst, you know," she said ruefully. Yuffie asked her lots of questions about the baby, about names and how they were decorating the nursery. Tifa was obviously excited about having her first child, but stopped suddenly mid-sentence, looking guilty. "I'm sorry, Yuffie," she mumbled.

Yuffie glanced up, confused until she saw her friend's shamefaced expression. Then she rolled her eyes. "You don't have to tip-toe around me, Tifa. Just because my life is pretty miserable right now doesn't mean you have to feel bad because yours isn't! You and Cloud, of all people, deserve to be happy." She moved her hands from Tifa's belly to squeeze her fingers. "I am so excited for you both."

Tifa's eyes filled with emotional tears. "Thank you. It's just…"

"I know. You can make me godmother, if you still feel bad," Yuffie said with a cheeky grin that made Tifa laugh.

"You knew you were going to be godmother anyway! Emotional blackmail wasn't necessary!" They both erupted into giggles. Vincent hid a small smile in his cloak. It was so good to hear her laugh again.

They were quiet for a while after that, just Yuffie's hand moving absently in Nanaki's fur. The big cat sighed deeply and tilted his head to look at the ninja. "So. How are you really, Yuffie?"

"I'm fine, Red," Yuffie answered automatically, then wilted under the combined glares of her three friends. "Sorry," she said ruefully. "I'm a ninja, remember? I guess I'm just used to wearing a mask."

"That is not necessary with us, Yuffie," Vincent said softly. Yuffie sat stiffly, almost defensively, but as she met his gaze she relaxed a little and her expression lightened.

"Right. Sorry. I'm… I'm doing better. For a while I kinda thought I was going to die, I missed him so much, but I know I'm not going to now." She paused, and swiped at her eyes. "I still really miss him. You know, losing my parents and some of my friends was bad enough, but losing Kito… I feel like I've lost a part of myself, like an arm or an eye or something. I don't feel _whole_ anymore. I guess it sounds kinda silly."

"No," Tifa said quietly. "It doesn't." Her gaze flickered briefly to Cloud and Vincent knew she was imagining herself in Yuffie's place. "I can't really imagine how you feel."

Yuffie sighed. "It feels like… it's like winter, when the snow stops being fun and it's just cold and icy and bleak all the time and there's no colour anywhere. That's what it's like." Tifa murmured something soothing, but Yuffie didn't seem to hear. "I just keep remembering stuff and wishing I'd done so many things differently."

"What would you have done differently?" Tifa asked her after a long moment of silence, wanting to prompt her into speaking again. "Not had so many fights?"

Yuffie paused, contemplative, and then surprised them all by shaking her head with a giggle despite the fact her eyes were damp. "No. I didn't mind fighting so much. The making up was a _lot_ of fun."

Vincent felt himself blush slightly and hoped no one would notice. He also hoped the conversation wouldn't continue down this path- he didn't know how well he would respond and Yuffie needed his support right now, not his useless jealousy.

Unfortunately for him, Yuffie did notice his blush and reached forward to pat his arm.

"See, I must be doing better, I told a joke that made Vinnie blush!" And she smiled the mischievous Yuffie grin that they hadn't seen in so long, but it quickly faded into a more thoughtful expression. "I wish we realised sooner that we loved each other. And I wished we'd been ourselves more. Sometimes, even at home we wouldn't be Yuffie and Kito, we'd be Lord and Lady of Wutai, and now that seems like a waste of time we could have spent being together, you know. And I wish it didn't hurt so much to think about him."

"It won't be that way forever," Nanaki promised gently. "The pain will fade, but the memories won't. It won't always hurt to look back."

Yuffie glanced down for a few moments, clearly struggling for control before she looked upwards again with a bit of a smile. "Aren't you meant to be cheering me up? I'm gonna get some more cake." She scrambled to her feet, clearly not wanting to talk about it anymore, and headed towards the half-demolished chocolate cake.

Vincent watched her as she got some cake, and then hovered over the poker game, giving out 'helpful advice', much to the annoyance of the players. She was healing slowly, he could tell. There were a few lines of care around her eyes and mouth that didn't belong on her young face and she didn't smile as much as she once had, but that just meant that her true smiles were all the more brilliant for it. She had loved and lost and come out of the other side stronger than ever. Her eyes had somehow regained much of their glow, although she would never be as carefree and innocent as she once was. He was so proud of her. And he loved her more now than he ever had.

* * *

_A/N: Argh, annoyingly my laptop crashed the first time I attempted to upload this. Anyway. I promise this will be the lowest point of this story. Yuffie will soon start to see everyone's favourite gunslinger in a new light. _

_The scenes in this chapter when Vincent comforts Yuffie and Yuffie's birthday party were actually the first thing I wrote for this story, then I went back and wrote a whole plot around them. I hope no-one was too out of character, but the circumstances were pretty extreme. I think that Yuffie would be pretty fierce if someone not only killed the person she loved but threatened the security of her home._

_Thanks to all the people who have reviewed so far! And thank you in advance to the people who will review this chapter too! *hint hint*._


	5. Chapter 5

In the months following Kito's death, Yuffie found that some days were a lot easier to deal with than others. On some days, she felt almost fine, almost normal and on others she felt crushed by grief so heavy it was like a physical weight across her chest, and it was all she could do to get out of bed.

She missed him. That's all there was to it. She had lost her husband right at the start of their life together and it _hurt. _They had still been newlyweds, still learning new things about each other and now he was gone. She felt empty and aching on the inside, bruised and bleeding from some invisible wound, so lonely that it hurt. What was she meant to do without him?

She missed seeing him during the day, talking to him and touching him and just being with him. She was a light sleeper due to her ninja training and it had taken her a long time to get used to sleeping alongside Kito, but it was taking even longer to get used to sleeping without him as she had grown so used to the weight and the warmth of him curled up next to her.

She dreamed about him every night. Usually, they were just nightmares, reliving the moment that the bullet hit him. She would drop to her knees beside his fallen form, begging him not to close his eyes, to stay with her, but the dreams always ended the same way. She would start awake, miserable and aching, cheeks damp from crying and lay huddled in her bed, waiting for it to be a reasonable time to get up.

Sometimes, and worse in a way, the dreams would be good ones, reliving happy memories or dreaming of the future they'd hoped for. She would wake up; content for one golden moment before she remembered what had happened and it was like losing him all over again. Often, in the night she would wake up and realise that she had been reaching for him unconsciously, and that hurt worse of all. She was so lonely that she sometimes thought she might actually die from it.

She couldn't help but blame herself. She should have known that something was up. It was her job to know what was going on in her country. All those months of peace and happiness had obviously dulled her edge. It was inexcusable. But she didn't just blame herself; she also blamed the morons who couldn't see that they were doing the best thing for Wutai. She kinda also blamed Godo, something that was as instinctive as it was irrational. She'd told him she didn't want to get married but he'd made her, and then look what had happened (she wished he was still around for her to yell at). She even blamed Kito a little bit, he was the one stupid enough to jump in front of a bullet, even if it was to save her life (and she really, really wished he was still around for her to yell at). But then she felt guilty for thinking like that and everything inside her hurt even more.

Sometimes she couldn't help wondering whether this was karma or something, some sort of cosmic payback for all the materia she had stolen and all the bad things she had done. Maybe losing the most precious thing in her life was some sort of revenge. Most of the time, she knew that it was stupid and dangerous to think like that, but sometimes when she was alone, exhausted from a lack of sleep and from crying, these thoughts would haunt her until morning. How was she going to live without him?

* * *

To Yuffie's surprise, some of the best advice she'd been given was by Barret. Of all the members of AVALANCHE, she had the most _interesting _relationship with him. They were friends and had fought alongside each other, of course, and she'd trust him with her life any day, but well… he was hot-tempered and she could never resist pressing his buttons and then laughing when he exploded. For his part, Barret treated her like some sort of bratty niece but he had also never quite forgiven her for the Incident With The Materia, either; he was the only one of them who still brought it up.

Also, Marlene had somehow picked up quite a bit of skill with a lock pick, and Barret blamed her. Yuffie thought this was totally unfair (after all, he had no _proof. _Marlene had pinkie-promised never to tell).

So when six months or so after Kito's death (how could it have been that long already?), Barret turned up at her front door with Marlene, she was pretty taken aback to see him, but quite happy too. She hated being alone these days (sometimes, she wondered what had happened to the carefree girl who had travelled fearlessly by herself through the Planet, camping out alone in forests and caves). She fed them a traditional Wutainese meal, pulled out some of her old kimonos for Marlene to try on, let her feed the goldfish in her meditation pond, and just enjoyed the unexpected company.

Once the little girl was asleep, she sat outside with Barret as he smoked a cigarette (she'd long before banned him and Cid from smoking inside her house, on the pain of a grisly death, due to the fact her house had paper walls) and drank a beer left over from the last AVALANCHE party.

"You los' weight, brat," he said abruptly, and she glanced sidelong at him in surprise. She hadn't thought he'd notice. She'd taken to wearing longer, looser clothing than usual to hide her weight loss and Barret wasn't usually observant with that sort of thing.

"Yeah, I guess," she replied, sipping at her coke. She had not really felt hungry, recently.

He sent her a piercing stare; she realised he was looking at her with the same fatherly eye he used on Marlene. "`S not good. Yo' ass were too skinny anyway," he began, his voice filled with brash concern.

"Hey, leave my ass out of this," she said with a small smile which he returned, but the seriousness didn't fade from his eyes.

"I know it's hard," he said quietly. "When my wife died it was like da world ended. But you gotta keep going." There was a pause while he gathered his thoughts. Barret almost never mentioned his wife. It took Yuffie a good few moments of brain-racking to even remember her name. Myrna. There was old pain in his voice, and Yuffie understood. "You gotta find somethin' else to live for," he continued simply, "I had Marlene. You gotta find somethin' dat makes dem proud too."

She sat quietly for a long time after that, watching the sky darken and the stars come out. Kito had loved stargazing, she remembered. He had pointed out all the different constellations to her, and she would pretend to be bored and call him a geek, although she actually enjoyed listening to him talk about something he enjoyed. He would smile and kiss her, then…

She sighed, wanting to smile and cry at the same time. That was the first time she had really looked at the stars since he died. She stirred, and felt Barret turn his attention back on her. "Make him proud, huh? I can do that." She had Wutai, after all, the country he had loved and that she had been ruling somewhat begrudgingly over the last few months.

"I know," he mumbled gruffly, and she laughed at him.

"Thanks, Barret. Wow, who knew you were so wise?" She smirked as he 'harrumphed' and muttered something unflattering at her. It was nice to know they were still the same people. She could see that he wasn't serious though, and she let her grin soften into a genuine smile as she leaned upwards to peck his cheek.

For the first time in what felt like forever, Yuffie remembered that she was lucky. She had wonderful friends who knew how to handle her broken heart. Even Barret. Cid and Shera had been acting as her surrogate parents, Reeve had helped her with diplomatic advice, Tifa called her almost every night and visited as much as she could, Cloud with her, and although he wasn't as vocal in his support, she knew she could count on him, the kids kept her smiling, Red helped her to keep on believing and Vincent…

Vincent had helped her so much through all this. He'd been there for her in her bleakest moments, when her grief was raw and fresh. If he hadn't stayed with her she genuinely didn't think she would have coped. She had been so torn up with grief that she might have done something extremely permanent about it… but Vincent had been there, and he had just let her cry all over him, although it must have been weird for him. He'd held her together when she thought that she was falling apart. It seemed that Vincent was always rescuing her from darkness, whether he was pulling her out of Nero's oblivion or saving her from the darkness that had brewed up in her own despairing heart. She was so, so thankful for her friends.

* * *

That month was the first month she went to Edge to meet up with the others. It had been the first time she'd felt up to it and also the first month that she felt that Wutai was secure enough for her to leave for a weekend. But when she got there, although she was glad to see everyone, she ended up sitting alone on the outskirts of the group, just watching them have a good time. She felt oddly weary and disconnected from them all. It wasn't until Vincent came and sat at her table that Yuffie realised just how much she had withdrawn into herself, like a snail into its shell.

"Heya Vinnie," she said, trying to smile and only just managing it. He raised a questioning eyebrow, silently asking why she was sitting alone. She didn't really have an answer for that, so she just shrugged. "I'm fine, Vince."

His gaze shifted to her left hand, and she noticed that she had been unconsciously twisting her wedding ring around and around on her finger. It was obvious where her thoughts had been, and probably just as obvious that she wasn't fine, not really.

"You should join the others," Vincent suggested quietly, and it was that statement that made her laugh for the first time in, gawd, she didn't even know how long.

"This is a bit of a switch," she explained to the mildly-bemused looking Vincent and he had the grace to smile slightly in rueful acknowledgement. She had said the same thing to him hundreds of times before.

She felt lighter now that Vincent had joined her, in an actual good mood for the first time in months, so she took his hand and dragged him over to where the others were sitting. "C'mon then, Vince, let's see if we can get you drunk this time!"

As Vincent unenthusiastically downed a shot kindly provided by Tifa, Yuffie realised that for the first time she could understand that in the choice between feeling too much- too much grief, too much anger, too much guilt- and feeling nothing, why Vinnie and Cloud had chosen to try and feel nothing. Why they had attempted to push away everyone around them and everything inside them. But she could never make that choice. She only hurt so much now because she had loved him so much, right? Kito had loved her back, loved her for who she was, a cheery, hyperactive ninja. He wouldn't want her to change. So even though she couldn't help being a bit mopey and sad, she wasn't going to go all emo. And, as she was surrounded by their laughter and their support, she knew she had never needed her friends around her more.

In Wutai, the New Year's festival was the biggest of the year, and she was meant to be supervising it, but she had been secretly dreading it. Last year, she and Kito had had a blast hosting it, but what exactly did she have to celebrate this New Year? It was the start of the first year of the rest of her life spent without him and the thought of having to fake enthusiasm and excitement all night made her cringe. When Staniv suggested that she go to the AVALANCHE party at Tifa's bar instead, she had seriously nearly kissed him and accepted his offer right away.

She even dressed up a bit, wearing an actual dress as well as the boots and necklace she'd received for her birthday the month before. She'd put on a bit of weight, thankfully, enough that she looked healthy again, if still a touch on the too-thin side.

Yuffie realised that she was actually looking forward to the party, much to her surprise. There had been a time when she thought that she would never look forward to anything ever again.

She surprised herself even more by having a great time at the party. It was just fun to hang out with the others. As it got closer and closer to midnight, Tifa asked everyone what their New Years resolutions were.

"My New Year's resolution is for this year to suck less than last year!" Yuffie declared, raising her beer bottle in a mocking salute.

"Amen to that!" Cid seconded, clinking his bottle against hers. She knew that they were all relieved that she could still joke about stuff. She was relieved too, to be honest.

As the bells rang for New Year and the fireworks started, Yuffie felt tears sting in her eyes. Kito was never far from her thoughts, even when she was with her friends and having a good time, and she missed him all over again. She wiped her eyes and tried to pretend that it was because her eyes were dazzled from the fireworks, but she knew better and probably so did all the others, but none of them mentioned it.

She turned at the feel of a hand on her shoulder. Vincent was looking down at her, his expression unusually soft in the inconsistent lights of the fireworks. She gave him a watery smile. "Happy New Year, Vince," she whispered quietly.

"Happy New Year, Yuffie," he returned just as quietly, probably understanding more than the others exactly how she was feeling, but that understanding threatened to make her cry more.

However, Yuffie didn't like dwelling on her sadness when she had been having such a good time, so she grinned at him, and managed to make it genuine. "Hey, you never said what your New Year's resolution was, Vinnie!" she said, and tried to persuade him to take up juggling as his resolution. And although she didn't succeed, she managed to push away all thoughts of sadness and smile for the rest of the night.

* * *

That February, Tifa gave birth to a son, who she and Cloud decided to name Zack; something that Yuffie thought was very sweet. She couldn't go to the hospital to visit as she was busy in Wutai, but as soon as she could she went to Edge to see her new godson.

She burst into the bar, more excited about this than anything in a long time, carrying balloons and flowers for Cloud and Tifa and a plushie mogling for baby Zack.

Tifa looked exhausted but proud, and she had never seen Cloud smile so much! Zack had big bright azure blue eyes, and a few stands of soft dark hair. "Oh my gawd, Teef, he's so cute!" she squealed, leaning over to look closer at the baby.

"Thank you," Tifa said with a small, contented smile. "Do you want to hold him?"

She nodded and held her arms out eagerly for the baby. She'd never held such a small baby before and so was extra careful. "He's gonna be gorgeous when he's older," she observed. "Good thing he got your nose, Tifa."

"What's wrong with _my_ nose?" Cloud protested mildly from across the room, but she ignored him, focusing on the infant in her arms.

It wasn't until later, when Cloud and Tifa were putting the baby to bed that the pain that was now so familiar awoke to haunt her. She and Kito had talked about having kids, of course, and they'd known they had to provide an heir for Wutai (once, they had been caught between mortification and hysterical laughter when their sex-life had been raised in a council meeting about that issue. Yuffie had banned all further mentions of it for all time) but they had decided to wait for a while. After all, they had forever, or so they'd thought.

This was so stupid. How could she miss something she'd never had?

She did perk up a bit when Vincent entered the bar. "Heya Vince! Have you come to see the baby?"

Vincent nodded, and then frowned at her. It wasn't until then that she realised she had been crying. Again. She casually wiped away the tears and smiled at him. "It's just so exciting," she tried, but Vincent knew her too well to fall for her bluffs.

He hesitated for a moment, then very carefully put his arms around her and gave her a hug. It still surprised her when he did things like that but she was very grateful for it right now.

"… it'll be alright," he murmured. He'd said that to her before, but she hadn't believed him. Now however, maybe she did. Not right away, but in time. She was already starting to look forward to things again, after all.

"Thanks, Vinnie," she mumbled, slightly embarrassed as she pulled away. He gave her one of his tiny, rare smiles before Tifa called down, asking who was there, and if they wanted to see her son.

* * *

She hit a slight blip in her New Year's Resolution on the day that should have been her second wedding anniversary. She woke up from a hazy dream of last year's anniversary, just a few weeks before Kito's death, and felt cold and lonely lying alone in her bed. She woke up before the dawn and was too restless to try and get anymore sleep.

She rose quickly and dressed in one of her usual outfits, glad that she no longer looked like a walking skeleton, strapped her Conformer onto her back, and hiked up Da Chao. She was attacked by a few weak monsters, not strong enough for her to work her aggravation out on. Halfway up, it started raining, making the faces of Da Chao look as if they were weeping. It didn't help to improve her mood.

This time last year, she and Kito had hiked up to the top of the holy mountain. She'd gone first, blithely killing off all the monsters in their path, leaving Kito to carry up two blankets and a basket of food. They couldn't take the time to have a holiday so they'd sneaked out for a picnic breakfast at the crack of dawn.

It seemed so long ago now, Yuffie thought, as she sat sheltered from the rain, cradled in the stone palm of her god. She stared at the houses of her hometown, vivid splashes of red in the grey, misty day. Where had all her hopes gone, her dreams of a better Wutai, of a family? All she had left was determination not to let him down, and it really, really sucked. She didn't cry. She thought that she was beyond tears, now.

Eventually, when she cramped up through cold, she untangled her stiff limbs and limped her way back down Da Chao. When she reached her home, she decided to have a hot bath as she was cold all the way through and soaked from the rain.

It wasn't until after her bath that she noticed that her PHS had several messages. One was from Tifa and another from Red, both checking to see if she was okay. The third message was from Vincent and that surprised her the most. Although he mostly answered his phone to her these days he had never actually taken the initiative to call her_. _His message was awkwardly casual, as Vincent didn't do casual very well at all, but the fact he had called to see if she was alright meant a lot to her and was a small bright point in an otherwise gloomy day. She rang back and left a message that was more cheerful than she felt, before deciding to just give up and go to bed.

That night, she started awake from a nightmare in which she had forgotten what Kito looked like. For a few moments of panic, she genuinely couldn't recall his features. She got out of bed hurriedly and dug out a photograph of him from her drawer.

She had hidden all her photographs of him after the funeral, much to Vincent's quiet concern. She couldn't have coped seeing him smile at her from all over her house, knowing that she would never actually see him again. She relaxed as she looked at it, his face still as familiar as her own in the mirror; his eyes the exact colour of hot chocolate, his hair in a short, too-tidy style that she had loved ruffling up and annoying him, his happy boyish grin.

She looked closer at his smile, a sense of calm washing over her. Somehow, in the year of grief and guilt, she had forgotten that he had been happy with her. That they had been happy together. She put the framed photo on her bedside table and went back to bed, falling into a peaceful sleep for the first time since his death.

"It's just really annoying," Yuffie complained to Vincent one evening, during one of his spontaneous visits to Wutai. He always claimed to have business in the area and she always went along with that, but they both knew that Wutai wasn't exactly on the way to or from anywhere else. Yuffie just guessed that, as he had seen her at her absolute lowest and because he knew exactly how dark grief could get, he wanted to make sure she was alright without making it seem as if he were checking on her.

She was lounging comfortably in her favourite baggy nightshirt (decorated with a picture of a very cuddly-looking tonberry, obviously drawn by someone who'd never had to fight one) and pyjama shorts, and Vincent was in his normal gear, minus his boots and cloak (as he'd discovered that her cats enjoyed chasing him and pouncing on it while he was walking around her house), as at ease as she had ever seen him.

"People just keep spouting these clichés at me, like; _time heals all wounds _and stuff. It's so not helpful. I swear the next person who says it to me…" she waved her fist lazily, getting the point across.

"I believe you have said such things to me before now," Vincent commented mildly, but with a smirk, letting her know that he was teasing.

"I've never said anything so _lame, _Vinnie!" she protested with a laugh. "I may have said something along the lines of 'get over yourself, you great big loser,' but at least that was original!"

"My mistake," Vincent apologised, still smirking. It was such a different reaction from when she'd first said it that it made Yuffie giggle.

But as she considered it, her smile faded slightly. "I guess that maybe I owe you an apology, though. It must have been really annoying that I was trying to make you cheer up when you really didn't want to." She didn't regret her attempts to pester him into smiling, but she was a little concerned that she may have had the opposite effect on him. She'd experienced enough well-intentioned comforting in the last year or so to know how irritating it could be.

Vincent didn't reply for several moments, obviously considering his response. He wasn't one to waste words, but she had never received the impression that he was weighing his words so carefully before. "I may not have always been very… receptive of your efforts, Yuffie, but I am grateful that you… cared enough to try." He paused, and Yuffie had the strongest impression that he was leaving a lot unsaid. "It… helped."

She smiled brightly at him, pleased and genuinely touched. "Yeah? Well, you've helped me a lot too, Vinnie."

Vincent didn't reply, instead he looked down at the cup he held loosely in his gloved hand. The silence that had fallen wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but she suddenly felt as if she was missing something important. She couldn't think of anything to say to break it, and she was the queen of breaking awkward silences. Instead, she twitched her bare toes at one of her kittens, who leapt on them with a playful kitten-growl.

Vincent's eyes shifted to watch the grey kitten's antics. After a few moments, he very softly said, "You still miss him." It was unusual for Vincent to be the one who filled their silences, but she appreciated it this time.

It wasn't a question, but she nodded anyway. "Yeah. I do." Her throat ached when she spoke. How come the time she had spent with Kito had flown by, and the year without him seemed to have lasted forever? She felt as if she had turned a corner with her grief, her life no longer felt so bleak, but she still missed him.

Vincent lowered his head in understanding and silence fell again. But this was a normal silence, one that she knew how to break. She scooped up her kitten and dropped it Vincent's lap, startling them both, while retrieving his cup. When she came back with two fresh cups of tea, she changed the subject firmly by asking Vincent if he knew how to play chess, unsurprised when he said yes. They played a couple of long games (though she made things more interesting by giving her pieces names and back-stories and insisting on lamenting their 'deaths' when Vincent captured them) both of which Vincent won, but narrowly, and she carefully didn't remember Kito teaching her how to play. She appreciated Vinnie's company very much, and didn't want to dwell on her sadness while he was there.

She only wished she'd worked out what it was that Vincent _hadn't_ said.

* * *

By what should have been her third wedding anniversary, she realised that although she still missed Kito, it was a dull ache that she had grown used to, one that only occasionally flared up into a fierce, white pain, hurting in the same place where she carried the scars from the deaths of her parents and Aerith. He was another scar that she would carry on her heart, one perhaps a little deeper than all the others, but it was a scar that was healing cleanly. She no longer felt like half a person.

She'd been a widow longer than she had been a wife, she realised on that day. That was a really depressing thought. She wished she hadn't come up with it. But she found herself able to think about her future with hope.

After one particularly long, frustrating day, Yuffie made her way home, dragging her feet a little as she walked. She felt… not quite sad, but something else that she couldn't immediately identify. After a few moments, she realised that she was lonely.

This surprised her. She had been alone plenty of times before, but she had never felt lonely. She missed having someone to talk to at the end of the day. Perhaps she would phone Tifa, if she wasn't too busy to talk.

As she entered her house, her ninja-senses tingled. She was acclimatised to an empty house and she knew right away that someone was in there before her. She carefully fitted some throwing stars in-between her fingers as she moved silently into her house.

However, her caution was completely unnecessary. She felt a little burst of warmth in her chest as recognised her unexpected visitor. "Heya Vinnie," she greeted warmly. She realised then that she looked forward to his periodic visits and that she missed him when he left. He just never usually let himself into her house, not that she minded. "How are you?"

Vincent nodded as an answer and looked down at her for a long moment, his red eyes glowing in the partial darkness. She wondered if she looked as tired and frustrated as she felt. Vincent had always been able to see past her smile to whatever true emotion lay underneath it.

"Come on. Let's go," Vincent said suddenly, and she blinked in surprise at the unexpected words.

"What? Go where?" she asked, and when he didn't reply, she laughed a little. "Are you kidnapping me, Vinnie?"

Vincent smirked at her in response, a teasing, challenging smirk, a very rare expression on him. She felt an answering smirk grow on her own face, the adventurous, rebellious part of her nature that had been long buried under grief and responsibility responding to his unspoken challenge.

"Give me two minutes." If there was one thing her thieving days had taught her, it was how to pack in a hurry.

They didn't go far, in the end. She put on her moogle-cloak (which was _amazing _no matter how much Reeve had laughed at it) and they sneaked out of Wutai easily enough, despite Yuffie's not-very suppressed giggles almost giving them away. They set up camp in the grasslands just before the first rope bridge onto the peninsular, sheltered from the cool wind by the nearby rocks. She felt very daring; although she knew her sixteen year old self would have been disgusted by how tame this adventure actually was, especially considering that she'd have to sneak back into Wutai before dawn. But she couldn't deny how _good _it felt to be out of the city when she wasn't meant to be, or how free she felt for just this one evening. She wondered how Vincent knew that this was exactly what she needed.

Vincent caught her looking back at where the lights of Wutai could still just be seen. Perhaps misinterpreting her stare as concern rather than relief, he said, "… relax. Nothing's going to happen tonight."

"Yeah, right. Knowing my luck, Wutai'll burn down or something tonight," she muttered wryly. Vincent chuckled in response, a quiet but real chuckle, and she turned to face him, wide-eyed.

"Vincent Valentine, did you just laugh?" she asked, astounded. He chuckled again as a reply. His laughter made her smile more widely than she had done for a long time. "I don't think I've ever heard you laugh properly before, well, not out loud. Sometimes I can tell you're laughing at me in your head, though."

"And how can you tell that?" he asked, humour still in his voice.

"Your eyes go all twinkly," she answered, stretching out on the dry grass and smirking to herself in the darkness.

"They do not," he replied, sounding somehow both amused and offended at the same time.

"They do too," she retorted, grinning madly. He didn't reply after that, obviously not wanting to get into a do too/do not argument with her. She listened to him set out the cooking implements, feeling oddly content.

It had been a long time since she had been camping, or had eaten over a campfire and she couldn't believe how much she was enjoying herself. She and Vincent talked softly about nothing important- they didn't mention Wutai or the WRO- for a long time. When it got truly dark, she pointed out a few constellations to him, for once not feeling sad when she remembered Kito teaching them to her. She even made a few up to see if Vincent would notice (he did). As it got later, the conversation died away. The comfortable silence that gradually fell over them was like a warm blanket, lulling her to sleep.

As her eyes drifted closed, she realised that lying there in the darkness with Vincent was the first time in ages that she truly felt happy.

* * *

_A/N: Apologies that this has taken so long to get out, I was busy preparing for some (sadly unsuccessful) job interviews and I also burned my hands in an incident involving a malfunctioning kettle which made typing for any length of time painful. Needless to say, this made me struggle somewhat with inspiration. _

_Anyway, Yuffie's moving on slowly. I didn't want to rush her into things with Vincent, but she's starting to associate being with Vincent with happiness so that's a good start, right? _

_Thank-you so much for all the amazingly supportive comments about the last chapter. I of course would appreciate any reviews for this one, too. _

_Oh, and obviously, I borrowed and adapted the phrase 'ninja-senses tingled' from spider-man. _


	6. Chapter 6

'I don't know what you have decided

I don't know how things are there with you

An angel has sewed the sky shut with thread

Dark blue and light blue

I don't remember the taste of loss

I have no strength to resist evil

Every time I walk out the door

I walk towards your warmth… '

-_White Guard_

Sometimes, Vincent wondered how she did it. He knew exactly how hard it was to pick up the threads of a broken life and try to make something of it. He knew exactly how hard it was to live everyday with that feeling like something was missing, and yet she still carried on, and she carried on _smiling, _even if sometimes her smiles were a little far-away and sad. She hadn't faltered in her determination to make her hometown the great nation it was once, undaunted by, if not happy about, the thought of doing it alone. He had no idea where her strength came from.

During one of his visits to Wutai, he asked her. It was late evening, and they'd had enough to drink to make them feel relaxed and comfortable with each other, though not enough to get them drunk. Yuffie looked up from her drink, surprised at his inquiry. Usually it was her who asked the intrusive questions.

"I carry on coz I have to," she answered immediately, and then thought about it a little more. "I guess… Kito saved my life. I feel like I owe it to him to _live _it, you know?"

He did know. It had just taken him much longer than Yuffie to figure it out. When he looked back over at her, her lips were slightly down-turned, although her eyes were steady and he regretted bringing it up. Perhaps sensing his discomfort, she changed the subject, and while he was relieved, he lost the opportunity to tell her how much he admired her.

A few weeks later, at one of the monthly gatherings of AVALANCHE and their associated friends, partners and children, Yuffie stormed in late, looking absolutely furious, though her expression softened when she caught sight of his and Tifa's worried gazes.

"What's up?" Tifa asked her, pouring a drink for her without having to be asked.

Yuffie pulled a face and muttered darkly under her breath for a few moments. "The council wants me to get married again," she spat.

Vincent froze. He had never considered that Yuffie might get re-married. Tifa's eyes flickered worriedly to his face, reading his too-blank expression, before turning her attention back on to Yuffie.

"How do you feel about that?" she asked her.

Yuffie laughed shortly, but there was no humour in it. "I didn't want to get married the _first _time, remember?"

Tifa smiled gently in remembrance. "Yes, I remember. It didn't turn out so badly though, did it?"

"No," Yuffie sighed. "It didn't. But I was just lucky, you know."

"Have you told the council how you feel?" Tifa asked her and Yuffie nodded, a slightly mischievous smile lighting her face for the first time since she had entered the bar.

"Yeah. I pointed out that the law says a woman has to be married to _take _the throne, and I was. It doesn't say anything about what happens afterwards." She snickered. "They hate it when I use the law against them."

Although Vincent didn't say anything, he realised that it was logical for the council to expect Yuffie to re-marry. Although she was doing an excellent job ruling alone, Wutai was a traditional society and he guessed that many people would feel more comfortable if there was a lord as well as a lady in charge. Also- and this was significantly harder for Vincent to consider- Yuffie would still need to provide an heir for Wutai. By the unhappy twist of her mouth, Vincent knew that Yuffie had also thought about all this before. He didn't know why he hadn't.

"And what did they say to that?" Tifa wondered. Yuffie grimaced, and that was answer enough.

"It might not be that bad," Yuffie said doubtfully. "I mean, it might be nice to have someone to do their fair share of the paperwork." Tifa dutifully smiled at her joke, and Vincent tried to support her by lightening his expression but wasn't sure if he managed it. "I… I don't think I want to be alone forever, but having _another _arranged marriage, now that I know what…" she trailed off and frowned at her wedding ring, and Vincent knew that, no matter what she said, or what the council wanted, she wasn't ready for another relationship.

Tifa's eyes flickered back to him, as if she expected him to say something. When he didn't, she sighed and said, "well, don't think about it now, Yuffie."

Yuffie managed to laugh. "Yeah. Besides, all the legal arguments will probably take another ten years to get sorted. No point in worrying about it now." After some general small talk with them both, she took her drink and went to sit with Cid and Shera. Vincent's eyes followed her, and when he turned back to the bar, he met Tifa's mildly accusing gaze.

"Are you just going to let her walk away again?" she asked quietly, but fiercely, and he resisted the urge to blink in surprise.

"She does not wish for another relationship," he pointed out, his tone of voice not communicating how he felt about that. While he was comforted by the thought that another arranged marriage was not pleasing to her, that couldn't change the fact that she still did not see _him. _He thought that he would be used to unrequited love by now, sometimes it startled him how much the pain could still take him by surprise.

Tifa's expression softened, her eyes were sympathetic now. "People can fall in love again, you know. Look at Cloud and me." She smiled softly across at her husband, who was holding their son whilst talking with Barret, before laughing gently and meeting his gaze. "And look at you!"

Vincent looked down, a bit uncomfortable although he understood her point. Of course Yuffie could fall in love again. He felt a little bit of hope at the thought, but it soon faded.

He just didn't see how. Although Lucrecia was only a memory now, a precious memory but one that no longer consumed his thoughts or weighed him down along with all his other sins, it had taken a good few decades and several Planet-shaking events to get him to the stage where he was ready to move on.

Yuffie had only been widowed for just over three years now. She had loved her husband and he had adored her in return, enough to give his life for her without a second thought. Although she spoke of him less, he knew she still missed him. She still wore her wedding ring and her white headband, something he knew was a personal symbol of mourning, like the ribbons they all wore for Aerith. She wasn't ready yet to move on.

Tifa's eyes were steady and sympathetic, as if she had understood everything he had just been thinking. "She still needs time, I know. But don't wait too long, Vincent. You'll only regret it in the end."

He knew all about regrets. He had more of them than he could easily count.

"Even if she becomes ready, there is no guarantee…" he didn't finish his sentence: _there is no guarantee that she would fall in love with me. _

Tifa heaved a sigh. "Vincent… she is only ever really her old self when she's with you." He raised an eyebrow, and Tifa smiled. "Could you really let her marry someone she doesn't love?" Tifa was called away to deal with a customer then, and left Vincent alone with his thoughts.

Would he really let her marry someone else without at least making an attempt to tell her of his feelings? He really didn't know.

He understood himself well enough to know that if he had realised he had loved her before her marriage, if on the evening she'd come to him for advice he realised the true reason behind his discomfort, he would have been wary and cautious of his feelings. He would have said nothing to her, and just resigned himself to being miserable longer.

After all, she was a beautiful, passionate princess, full of light and enthusiasm, with her whole life ahead of her. He was a broken man, a sinner and a monster, even though he was finally learning to forgive himself. Even if he had realised his feelings, he wouldn't have spoken of them. He knew he didn't deserve her and she didn't deserve to be stuck with a man like him. He also wouldn't have wanted to cause any conflict between any potential feelings she had for him and her duty to her country.

He had never doubted her love for Wutai; none of them had, even back when they had doubted _her. _That was why she had stolen from them after all, love, not malice.

But he hadn't realised, he hadn't spoken and then it had been too late, anyway.

But now, well, he didn't know. It had been hard enough watching her get married the first time, when she had been in love and happy. It would be even harder to watch her do it again, reluctantly and purely for duty's sake. He didn't know if he would be able to watch her walk away from him again without saying anything.

"Hey Vinnie!" Yuffie's voice, more cheerful now, called him over to her table, breaking him out of his thoughts. He moved to sit with her and the others. He didn't have to make any decisions tonight, at any rate. She was still healing, and there was no immediate hurry.

He still had plenty of time to make a choice.

* * *

When Vincent woke up, he was in an unfamiliar room. After staring blankly at the clinical white walls for a few moments of confused disorientation, he realised that he was in the WRO's sickbay. He'd just fought against a hugely strong monster, the toughest fight he'd had since Deepground, and he didn't remember anything after being injured by the creature in its death throes. Obviously, Reeve had sent someone to retrieve him.

After confirming that he had already healed, he sat up cautiously, looking for some water, but his attention was caught by something else. The person he most wanted to see after being injured, but least expected to be there, was curled up asleep in a chair at the side of his bed. He smiled slightly to himself and reached out and touched her hand lightly.

"Yuffie," he said, voice hoarse from disuse, and her eyes snapped open instantly.

"Vinnie!" she exclaimed, wide-eyed. "You're awake!" She stared at him with such relieved intensity that it made Vincent wonder if he had been more injured than he had previously thought.

"… Yuffie?" he asked, his voice cracking in his dry throat. He was suddenly ragingly thirsty.

Yuffie slapped her forehead, and then reached over him to the bedside table to get a glass of water with a pink curly straw in it. He lifted an eyebrow but was too thirsty to comment. He drained the glass in seconds.

"… how long was I out?" he asked as Yuffie poured him some more water.

"Two days," Yuffie answered in a soft, unfamiliar, tone. "Reeve rang me… I had to sneak myself out of Wutai to come and see you." He arched an eyebrow at her as he drank some more water. "I left a note!" she protested. Vincent didn't even try to reprimand her. Although he knew that Yuffie sometimes chafed at the restrictions her position placed on her, she had taken her responsibilities seriously since she had moved back to Wutai. How could he _really_ disapprove when she had broken the rules to come and see if he was alright?

Yuffie watched him carefully as he finished with the water and put the glass on the side. "How're you feeling?" she asked, her voice oddly shaking. He considered it briefly then nodded. He felt fine. He had lived through far more serious injuries, after all.

He did, however, wince when Yuffie punched him solidly in the arm. "You jerk! What the hell did you think you were doing?" Before he could reply, she'd wrapped her arms around him in an awkward but fervent hug. As her face was safely buried in his shoulder, he allowed himself to close his eyes and savour it. "If you ever do that to me again, I swear I'll…" she trailed off as she pulled away, sniffing.

To his amazement, he realised that Yuffie had tears in her eyes. "I'm fine, Yuffie," he assured her awkwardly. She grinned tremulously at him, but he could tell that she had been genuinely shaken by his injuries.

"I gotta tell you, Vince, you're lookin' dead sexy in that hospital gown," she joked weakly, trying to sound like her usual cheerful self, but her lower lip was quivering and the tears brewing in her eyes spilled down her cheeks when she tried to blink them away. She turned her face away, obviously embarrassed.

He glanced down, having not noticed that he'd been changed out of all his usual gear aside from his claw, before turning his attention back to Yuffie. He didn't understand her distress. Although obviously he had never truly tested whether or not he was still immortal now that Chaos was gone, even if he wasn't, he could still take much more damage than any normal man, and Yuffie knew that. So why was she so upset?

It only took a couple of seconds for him to realise, the memory surfacing from one of the few times he'd seen her cry before. _The people I care for the most always die, _she'd said to him once, just after Kito's death. He'd assumed that it had just been her grief talking, but he realised now that it was a genuine fear, one that was strong, if irrational. He felt awful for causing her so much concern.

In a gesture that seemed so natural and right that he didn't even think about it beforehand, he reached out with his good hand and gently wiped the moisture from her cheeks. Her tears were very warm against his skin. After a couple of seconds, Yuffie closed her eyes and leant into his careful touch.

Vincent drew his hand away in surprise, feeling oddly disgusted with himself, as if he had taken advantage of her unexpected vulnerability. Yuffie opened her eyes and stared at him. He couldn't read her expression. She looked utterly bemused, almost as if she had never seen him before.

"… Vince?" she whispered, as if she expected him to make sense of what had just happened, but before he could even think about replying, the doctor entered, breaking the tense intimacy of the room with his cheerful bedside manner.

"Ah, good, you're back with us, Mr. Valentine!" The doctor checked his charts with a brisk professionalism that reassured Vincent, due to his understandable mistrust of doctors. However, he _had _visited the WRO sickbay on numerous previous occasions, although usually for Yuffie, and had met this man before. "Your friend has been very worried, even though I told her that you were mostly just exhausted." Vincent glanced at Yuffie. She had been worried, he knew. Now she just looked confused.

Vincent didn't know what had just happened, but it felt like something had changed.

* * *

After that, Yuffie changed around him. Only slightly, in small ways that no-one else seemed to notice. She was still as friendly and welcoming to him as she had always been, she seemed happy to see him every month at Tifa's bar, and was always excited when he visited her in Wutai. All of that was normal.

What had changed was the way she looked at him. Sometimes now she looked at him as if he were a puzzle she was trying to work out. That was similar to how she had looked at him when they had first met, when she trying to understand why _anyone_ would lock themselves away for thirty years, but it was also a little different. More intense. More intimate. He didn't know what to make of it, but every time he noticed that expression in her eyes it made his heart jump with something he didn't quite recognise. It took him several months to realise that it was hope.

There were a few other changes as well. Sometimes she seemed flustered around him. Sometimes even embarrassed. And once, she seemed almost guilty for smiling at him, something that raised and crushed his hopes at the same time.

Yuffie hadn't mentioned the council again, and so he reassured himself that he still had time to decide whether or not he should talk to her, and also _when _he should talk to her. For although he had a little bit of hope now, he didn't want to ruin it by moving too fast and speaking before she was ready to hear it.

He still had plenty of time.

Once, during one of his visits, he ended up assisting Yuffie in some monster-hunting, tracking down some creatures that were creeping just a little to close to some of Wutai's outlying farms. The council hadn't wanted her to go, but they objected less when he offered to accompany her. The trip would extend his stay in Wutai for several days.

"I don't mind," he assured Yuffie when she asked him.

"Good," she smiled in response. "I like it when you're here, Vinnie. I get lonely sometimes…" she trailed off and blushed when he caught her eyes. She hurried ahead, feigning interest in the monster tracks. He felt himself smile a little, feeling more hope than ever before.

He still didn't think he was good enough for Yuffie, but now he knew what it was like to be without her. He could never replace what she had lost, but if he could make her happy in any way, he would gladly try for the rest of his life.

He just had to figure out how to tell her.

* * *

During that summer, Yuffie came to stay in Edge for a week's holiday, the longest she had taken since she had gone back to Wutai. She happily spent the time with all of her friends, but always seemed especially glad when he stopped by to see her. Reeve had given him this week off work, too. Sometimes he wondered if all of their friends were conspiring against him.

One morning, after helping Marlene and Denzel to feed the chocobos, she informed Cloud that his birds were getting fat. Cloud was offended by this, until he realised how long it was since he had taken them out on a long ride.

"Why don't you take one of them out, Yuf?" Tifa suggested. "I'm sure Vincent would go with you," she added innocently. When Yuffie turned her hopeful eyes on him, he couldn't refuse. He sent Tifa a _look _but she only smiled smugly. There was clearly a conspiracy going on.

He had no objections to riding with Yuffie, however, even though the moment they left the city she challenged him to race and sped off. He kept pace with her easily, until they reached a rather large river. Yuffie's chocobo balked and, unsuspecting and off-balance, Yuffie toppled off its back and into the river.

"Yuffie," he called, alarmed, but she already standing, unhurt but annoyed, spitting water.

"Gawd, this must be the only golden chocobo on the entire _planet _that's scared of water!"

He couldn't help a smile as he offered her a hand out of the river. Too late, he saw the mischievous flicker in her eyes. She took his outstretched hand before he had a chance to retract it and yanked him into the river with a giant splash, almost right on top of her.

"Nyuk nyuk nyuk! That's what you get for laughing at the White Rose of Wutai!" she declared, dissolving into hysterical giggles when he pulled a weed out of his hair. He glared mildly at her, enjoying her smile too much to really be angry. She just laughed harder anyway.

After they had clambered out and chased down their chocobos, they sat out in the sun, drying off. Yuffie sprawled out on the grass next to him, her head close to his thigh and her bare feet stretched out behind him. He smirked down at her, before realising how her damp clothes clung so closely to her skin, highlighting her slim curves, and he jerked his head to the side to focus on the happily warbling chocobos.

"You look happy today," he said suddenly, surprising himself a little. He wasn't usually the sort just to blurt out what he was thinking. She cocked her head and gave him a curious look.

She laughed and propped herself up on her elbow. "Well, I'm happy right now, Vince," she said, grinning at him.

He looked into her upturned face. Droplets of water sparkled like crystals in her hair and on her skin, and her eyes were shining so brightly for the first time in years. Her smile was genuine and tempting and his heart started to pound.

Without consciously deciding to do it, he leaned down and kissed her.

* * *

_A/N: Again, I am very sorry about the length of time it took me to update, but the last few weeks have been pretty horrible, and the next few don't look like they're going to be any better. My enthusiasm for this was very low until a random bout of insomnia-fuelled inspiration last night. That probably explains why this chapter's a little shorter than the others. Sorry again._

_The song at the beginning of this chapter is by a Russian band and the translation is quoted in Sergei Lukyanenko's _The Twilight Watch _which is an excellent book. The words planted some of the original seeds for this story and I thought I'd quote it here as this chapter is the pivotal one. _

_This chapter could have gone several ways but I think I'm pretty happy with it in the end. I think Vincent needed some encouragement to show Yuffie how he feels. But how is Yuffie going to react? We'll just have to wait and see!_

_Anyway, it's my birthday today guys, and everyone knows that reviews make great presents! Thanks to everyone who has already reviewed._


	7. Chapter 7

It was like sunshine.

It was like stepping out of cold, clinging shadows into a clearing full of warmth and light. Vincent's mouth against hers was soft and tender and before she knew it she was leaning into him, parting her lips in response to the gentle pressure. She felt Vincent's fingers brush softly through her hair and then against the nape of her neck, raising goose-bumps on the sensitive skin there.

Then, just as suddenly as he had kissed her, he pulled away. She slowly opened her eyes, wondering absently when she had closed them, and stared across at him in disbelief. His face was expressionless but when he looked away from her she understood that he was embarrassed, maybe even ashamed. She knew that she should say something to try and fix the situation, but she was too busy touching her tingling lips in utter surprise like a teenage girl who'd just had her first kiss (although she had totally wasted her first kiss on Cloud. The stupid jerk hadn't even appreciated it). It had been _such _a long time since anyone had kissed her.

"Uh," she began, brilliantly. "You have really soft lips, Vince. Do you use lip balm or something?" Gawd. She could have thrown herself _back _into the river for that stupid comment, but to her surprise Vincent turned back to her and let out a low, nervous laugh.

"Cherry-flavoured," he replied, and when she stared at him in goggle-eyed shock, he simply rolled his eyes. With a rush of relief she caught on to the fact he was being sarcastic. The idea of Vincent Valentine using cherry-flavoured lip balm made parts of her brain self-combust.

His brief amusement faded and he looked away from her again. "Forgive me, Yuffie," he rumbled softly.

"`S'okay, Vinnie," she said, trying to reassure him. "There's nothing to forgive." She wondered whether she should try and touch his arm, or tell him he was a good kisser, or _something_, but she knew him well enough to know that it would just make him feel more uncomfortable right now. She hadn't minded him kissing her _at all. _It was just totally unexpected.

Why _had_ he done it? If it had been any other guy, she would have just put it down to some spur-of-the-moment, impulse thing because their faces had been so close together, but this was Vincent. He didn't kiss women just on the spur-of-the-moment. She threw him a sneaky, sidelong glance. There was another reason for it, something he didn't want to say, something that was hovering just under the surface of his unreadable mask. Her eyes narrowed. She was going to find out what it was.

"What's going on, Vince?" she asked. He went perfectly still beside her and said nothing, but Yuffie just waited in a coxing silence, waited long past the usual point where she'd break and start poking him to demand answers.

Eventually he realised that she wasn't going to back down. "I love you." His soft voice would have sounded matter-of-fact if it hadn't been for how quickly he said it.

She blinked. "What?" That was even more unexpected than him kissing her. Her mind had gone totally blank.

He sighed. "I'm in love with you, Yuffie." He still hadn't turned to face her.

"Oh." She waited for some intelligent comment to occur to her, but eventually settled with: "are you sure?"

He turned slowly to look at her. The expression in his crimson eyes was one of mingled amusement, exasperation and something else, something she had only glimpsed once or twice in his rare unguarded moments, something intense and frightening and wonderful. She swallowed. He was sure.

"Oh," she said again. She felt totally numb with shock. "Um… since when?"

Vincent hesitated. "… I'm not sure." He didn't say anything else for a long moment and she thought that was all she was getting. Then he sighed and continued, "I first realised it on your wedding day." There was a hint of bitterness in his voice, but it was directed at himself, she knew, not her.

The numbness faded away abruptly, and her heart contracted with pain for him. "Oh

Vinnie," she murmured, taking his hand instinctively and squeezing it. "I'm so sorry…"

He shook his head hurriedly. "Yuffie. I have never… needed anything from you but friendship, and I did not expect even that."

She laughed. "You've always had that, Vinnie, even when you _didn't_ want it."

He swallowed, and glanced down at their joined hands. Suddenly, she felt awkward and jerked her hand out of his and back into her lap. Vincent didn't comment, he simply returned to his contemplation of the river, perhaps giving her time to absorb his unexpected declaration.

Vincent was in _love _with her? It sounded so strange, even in her head. How had she not noticed? When she thought back though, it did start to make some sense. It explained why he was the first to come to Wutai after Godo's death, why he almost always answered his phone to her (even if he only said the bare minimum of words to assure her that the connection hadn't been cut), why he had stayed after Kito's death, when she had needed someone so badly. He had loved her enough to hold her in his arms while she wept for another man. It was an incredible, unbelievable thought. It made her heartbeat quicken and a shy smile come to her lips. Vincent _loved _her.

He had loved her undemandingly all these years, and she'd had no idea. Her smile faded. She felt horrible.

"Uh," she began awkwardly again, and Vincent turned back to face her, his expression as blank as usual, but his eyes were guarded now. "I'm sorry that I've hurt you, Vinnie. I never meant to." He shook his head briefly, dismissing her apology. "But I'm not sorry that I loved Kito." She said the words without thinking, and perhaps they were a little harsh, but they had gone from her heart to her mouth without being filtered by her brain. She wouldn't take them back, though.

"I know," he said, and his voice was hoarse, even more so than usual.

"But why didn't you ever say anything?" she wondered out loud, and he gave her an exasperated look.

"… You were married, Yuffie," he said. "And after he died, you grieved for Kito so much…"

But he couldn't finish his sentence because as soon as he said the name of her husband, she sucked in a painful breath as if he had just punched her. What the hell did she think she was doing, kissing another man? Had she forgotten about Kito? Her right hand flew to cover her wedding ring. Vincent's eyes followed the gesture impassively, but she knew enough now to realise that the instinctive gesture must have hurt him.

He turned his face away, and this time didn't turn back when she said his name. He only sighed. "My apologies, Yuffie," he said again. "I did not mean to make you uncomfortable." His voice was a little awkward, and it hurt to hear Vincent feel that way around her. "I thought I should let you know… before it was too late again."

Too late? She wondered, and then remembered that she had complained to him once about the council wanting to force another marriage on her. "Vince," she began, the pang of guilt already fading, but Vincent ignored her. All the things she should say, and wanted to say, and didn't know how to say got stuck in her throat and then it was too late.

He stood suddenly, crossing over to his chocobo and mounting it. "Tifa will be worried," he said blandly, before setting off at a pace that she could easily catch up to, but that would discourage any conversation.

She sighed, slipping into her shoes before mounting her own chocobo, and grimacing when her still-damp clothing stuck uncomfortably to the saddle. Their light-hearted dip in the river felt like it had happened ten years ago, not earlier that day. With a sigh, she pushed her chocobo to catch up with her hurting friend.

She felt terrible. If there was anyone on the Planet who deserved someone to love them back without hesitation, it was Vincent Valentine.

* * *

Dinner that evening was a tense affair. She and Vincent, along with Barret, had been invited to join the Strife household for their evening meal and she knew that all of them could spot the awkwardness between her and Vincent. But they were all oblivious to the cause of it, except for Tifa (and possibly Shelke, even now, Yuffie could never tell what she was thinking. She had a better poker-face than Vincent.) who had looked between them with hopeful, knowing eyes when they had entered the bar. Obviously, she had known all about it, and Yuffie couldn't help feeling a little annoyed. A heads-up would have been helpful!

She hoped to speak to him later that evening, but he took advantage of Marlene asking her to read a bedtime story and escaped before she came back down the stairs. She considered going after him, but thought he might need some time to himself. And she needed time to work through her feelings for him, before they spoke again.

She went to bed early and lay listlessly across her blankets (having evaded Tifa with a promise of a full discussion the next day) and tried to make sense of her confused, swirling emotions.

She knew she had handled things badly that afternoon. She'd felt so many different things, all at once; surprised, happy, nervous, flattered, scared. She could have said something nice to Vincent. It must have taken so much courage for him to talk to her.

She should have at least said thank-you. Instead, of all the emotions she had felt, the only ones she had really let him see were shock, and guilt.

Guilt. She could feel in churn in her stomach as she thought about it. She didn't feel as if she had cheated on Kito or dishonoured his memory or anything. She had come to terms with his death. Well, mostly. Kinda, anyway. She would never be easy with it, but it no longer felt like she had swallowed broken glass when she thought about him.

She was also pretty sure that Kito wouldn't want her to die a lonely old woman, surrounded by cats. Vincent kissing her, and her enjoying it, had triggered some form of survivor's guilt. She was free to have these sorts of feelings because Kito wasn't around anymore. It was just a little hard to deal with.

But recognising why she had felt guilty didn't help her decipher what she felt for Vincent.

Vincent had always fascinated her, right from when they first met. She had wanted to prise him open, like Reeve did to Cait Sith, and figure out what made him tick. Her curiosity had eventually grown into a strong friendship, one that she had relied on so much in the last few years, and one that was precious to her. One that she didn't want to lose. Vincent was her rock, the first person she turned to for support or advice.

She'd also always thought that he was attractive, but it hadn't been anything more than an observation, the same way that she thought that Tifa was attractive. It didn't mean anything. It was only in the last few months that she really started to _notice _it.

But what exactly _did _she feel for Vincent? For some reason, it had never occurred to really think about it before. If she thought back honestly (and that was hard in itself, sometimes trying to remember the Yuffie-before-Kito was like trying to remember a character from a book she'd read years ago) she realised that, before her marriage was arranged, she could have easily fallen for Vincent. They'd become so close something might have developed between them naturally, given a little more time. But even if it had, she wasn't sure if she would have done anything about it. There were always issues and problems with falling in love with your best friend, even more so if your best friend happened to be Vincent Valentine and you happened to be a princess facing an arranged marriage.

As hard as it must have been for him to be in love with her while she was married to someone else, it would have only been harder for him if she had _left him _to get married. She was glad that it had never happened.

But what exactly did she feel for him _now? _Yuffie remembered quite clearly the sudden lurch of horror she'd felt when Reeve called to inform her that Vincent had been injured. It had been so strong that she hadn't been able to breathe for several endless seconds. Seeing him in the hospital looking so vulnerable had made tears sting in her eyes, despite the doctor's assurance that he was already healed and was suffering mostly from exhaustion. She'd known then, at that moment, if he had died her world would have collapsed around her again, and that time there would be no recovery.

Her hormones had been on holiday since Kito's death (the one time Reno had tried to cheer her up by flirting with her she had practically strangled him to death with his own ponytail) but they had been slowly creeping back home, ever since Vincent had touched her cheek so carefully in the hospital. She also kissed him back today. She'd enjoyed it too, and not just because it was the first kiss she'd had in over three years. She enjoyed it because it had been Vinnie kissing her.

That was more than just friendly feeling, right?

But even if it was, she knew she had to be careful. Her heart had been broken before, but Vincent's had been blasted into smithereens. She didn't want to hurt him anymore than she already had, and she also didn't want to lead him on before she figured out exactly what she should do. Above everything else, he was her best friend. She didn't want to lose him through embarrassment or awkwardness.

She would have to talk to Vincent tomorrow. He was coming to watch the kids while Cloud was on a delivery and she was dragged on a girly shopping trip with Tifa (who she was sure would have some advice for her. She should seriously write her own agony-aunt column or something). She would sort things out with him after that.

Her mind a little more at ease, she pulled the covers over herself and closed her eyes.

As Yuffie settled down to sleep, she realised that she had felt cold on the inside for a long time and that Vincent had thawed that frost. No matter what happened next, she would always be grateful for that.

* * *

"Wow," Tifa commented after she finished relating the story back to her the next day. It had taken quite a while as she had narrated it during their trek around Edge's shopping district, while looking for the perfect outfit for Tifa's anniversary dinner that weekend. Although she wasn't as much of a tomboy as she'd been a few years ago, clothes shopping still wasn't really her thing. Fortunately, she and Tifa had long before worked out a ratio of clothes to materia shops for their shopping trips, ensuring that they both found them bearable.

"I know," Yuffie replied, holding out a miniskirt for Tifa's inspection. She shook her head at it, pulling a slight face.

"But do you like him, Yuffie?" Tifa asked seriously, getting right to the heart of the matter.

Yuffie felt her cheeks burn. "I think so."

"As more than just a friend?" Tifa persisted.

She nodded. "Yeah." But she touched her wedding ring as she said it, a gesture she had adopted for comfort over the last few years. It didn't really feel comforting then, though.

Tifa touched her arm sympathetically. "You're not doing anything wrong, you know."

"I know," she replied. It was only half true; her head knew it, but her heart needed some more convincing. "But it's not just that," she said awkwardly. Tifa looked up from the racks of clothing she'd been rifling through, her interest sparked. "It's just… I was engaged by the time I was nineteen, remember. To a guy my dad picked out. I've never done the dating thing. Never thought I'd have to; and now I don't now how. You can't seriously like that," she added, pointing at the hideous lime-green and yellow blouse Tifa had absently pulled out.

Tifa smiled, half in sympathy, half in amusement as she replaced the shirt and pulled out a much nicer top from behind it. "Have you told Vincent any of this?" Yuffie shook her head, feeling sheepish. "Don't you think you should? He deserves to know."

Yuffie sighed. She knew that already.

When they returned to the bar, Vincent was outside, supervising Marlene and Denzel as they played on the swings in the tiny garden. Tifa just smiled, heading upstairs, obviously intending to give them a little privacy.

Yuffie sighed, gathering up practically as much courage it had taken to go down into the crater and face Sephiroth, before heading outside. She waved at the kids before throwing herself onto the bench next to Vincent, deliberately sitting on one of the trailing edges of his cloak so that he couldn't get up and walk away without strangling himself. She laughed half-heartedly at the slightly irritated look he sent her when he figured it out. She waited for them both to regain their composures before continuing.

"I'm sorry if I was mean yesterday," she said. "I was just really surprised." Vincent made an accepting noise in his throat, perhaps acknowledging that surprise was a fair reaction. He still avoided her eyes though, and it made her nervous. She took a deep breath. If she didn't say it now, she would never say it, and she would regret it later.

"I really like you, Vinnie," she blurted out inelegantly. Vincent turned to face her, slight traces of hope and disbelief warring across his features. "But I just need some more time. Is that okay?"

He nodded slightly, and she relaxed, at ease in his presence for the first time since they'd kissed. After a few moments of comfortable silence ticked by, Vincent said quietly, "… I'm not trying to replace him, Yuffie…"

"You couldn't!" she exclaimed more sharply than she intended, and Vincent winced imperceptibly. She felt like kicking herself. When would she ever learn to think before she spoke? "I didn't mean it like that," she said quickly. "I just meant that you're Vinnie. I wouldn't want you to be anything else."

She was almost convinced that she saw a smile briefly flicker across the edges of his mouth. She reached out to touch his hand (noticing how nervous it made her feel with a little disbelief) before getting up to leave him to it.

Vincent squeezed her hand slightly, stopping her before she turned away. "His memory is a part of you. I understand that." She couldn't help smiling then. Of course Vincent, of all people, would understand. His whole expression softened at her smile and it made her catch her breath a little. "Take all the time you need."

She let out a relieved huff of breath. "So… we're still friends?"

He squeezed her fingers again before letting her go. "Of course."

* * *

When Yuffie returned to Wutai, she had a lot to think about. She found it harder to concentrate on the boring paperwork than usual (not that she normally found it _easy _to concentrate anyway), because she felt so restless. Her emotions bounced from excitement to uncertainty to anxiousness and back again every ten minutes or so. The knowledge that she could love Vincent, was in fact on the brink of doing so and perhaps had been for a while was as exhilarating as it was scary and a little sad.

Her emotional stability was further undermined by the fact that Vincent had stopped answering his phone. The first couple of times it rang for a bit without being answered, and after that it went straight to voicemail. Yuffie would admit later (but only under heavy pressure or threat of tickling) that she went a little obsessive-compulsive trying to get hold of him. She rang him practically every spare moment she had, worried that he either hated her or had gone haring off into the wilderness, never to be seen again.

This went on for about two weeks, and by the time Vincent finally answered his phone, she felt more than a little hysterical. She didn't even let him get a word in before she exploded.

"Where the hell have you been? Do you know how many times I called you? Did you hang up on me? Coz that's really rude and _not fair_, I've been calling and calling and calling…"

"I know," he interjected dryly. "I've been on a mission."

She blinked, her nervous anger suddenly evaporating. Why hadn't that occurred to her? "Oh!"

"… you nearly got me killed," he said matter-of-factly, and then added, "twice," at her horrified little gasp. She could practically hear his smirk over the phone, smug because he had totally blindsided her.

"Are you hurt?" she demanded, and at his negative-sounding grunt, exclaimed, "Why didn't you turn your phone off, moron?"

"I did," he informed her. "… was there a reason for the two hundred and seventy three missed calls?"

"I thought you were mad at me," she explained, somewhat sheepishly.

"Why would I be mad at you?" he asked, sounding a little confused.

"I dunno…"

He sighed exasperatedly down the phone, and the sound was so familiar and so oddly comforting that it made Yuffie giggle. She was suddenly able to enjoy talking to him, and the tension between them just melted away.

She managed to pry out some details of his mission and caught him up with her news, although there wasn't much of it. However, she did tell him that she wasn't able to go to Edge that month, and was quite pleased that the resulting silence sounded disappointed.

"Will you come to Wutai?" she asked him softly.

"I don't know," he replied uncertainly.

"I miss you, Vinnie," she told him, hoping that he wouldn't take that as emotional blackmail, or as her leading him on. It was simply true. She missed her friend.

She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised when he turned up at her front door a few days later. She wished he'd given her some notice though, for the first time she could remember she wished he wasn't seeing her in a shapeless, unflattering _7th Heaven_ t-shirt that Tifa had given her one time when she'd forgotten to pack pyjamas, and faded polka dot leggings. Not that Vincent seemed to care, but still.

They quickly fell into the old habits of his visits, but things were a little different. While she felt at ease, she was simply _aware _of him in a way she had never really been before. She realised that they were sitting much closer together than usual. It was nice, she decided, being with him was comfortable yet newly exciting at the same time.

When they eventually finished talking (or, she ran out of things to chatter at him about) she set up the guest room for Vincent to sleep in. Then, feeling a little brave, she stood on her toes to kiss him goodnight. She did aim for his cheek, but somehow missed and ended up giving him an awkward, fumbling, more-than-just-friends-but-not-quite-yet-lovers peck on the lips. She pulled away quickly though, inwardly cursing herself. What had she told herself about not leading him on?

"Um, sorry," she muttered, but Vincent surprised her by briefly brushing her cheek with the backs of his fingers.

"Don't be," he said, seeming to be amused more than anything. That was probably because she could feel herself blushing so hotly she was pretty sure her hair was about to set on fire. "Goodnight, Yuffie."

"Night-night, Vinnie," she replied, watching him walk into his room, before shaking her head and heading into her room. She was glad he was here, but seriously, when had things got so complicated?

* * *

It was another dull council meeting, about pretty much the same issues as they were always about. Yuffie had quickly developed a filtering device for these meetings, ensuring that she picked up the important things without having to pay attention to all the stupid stuff, but today her heart was hurting.

Staniv was doing his usual spiel on honour, duty and responsibility, which Yuffie knew meant "when are you going to get married again?" She always felt an ache in her chest in this portion of the meeting, but today the ache was different. Always before, she had associated it with Kito. Today, she was thinking about Vincent.

In the past few months her feelings for him had grown stronger and stronger, and she thought that even if Vince hadn't kissed her that day by the river, she would still be developing these feelings for him.

He was her friend and confidant and comrade. Kind, clever, polite, patient. She had always admired him for these traits, the admiration had simply deepened. She knew all about his dark past and all the depressing things he'd gone through and she wanted to soothe his pain, make the bad stuff go away, like he'd done for her. She wanted to understand him as well as he did her; he knew her better than anyone else, better than even Kito in a few key ways (in battle, you learned things about people that would never come up in everyday life). She wanted to get to know every little thing about him; she wanted to be there for him like he had been there for her. She wanted to make him smile and laugh and be as happy as he could be. She wanted to be with him.

One thing that had startled her was that he occasionally urged her to talk to him about Kito. If he was ever jealous or hurt by this, he never let on, and to her surprise, it actually helped. She had been so worried that she would forget all about him, but sharing her memories actually made her realise that they were less painful than she thought, and that moving on didn't mean she had to erase him from her mind. Vincent knew she couldn't forget him, didn't expect her to, in the same way he could never forget his first love. It was this understanding, in the end, that made her realise how much she did truly love him.

She was also very aware of the fact she wanted to kiss him again, and not just a brief peck on the lips like the last time. But she also knew that Vincent wouldn't take the initiative again. She'd asked him for more time, and he would give it to her. It would be up to her to make the first move this time.

So listening to Staniv reel off a list of suitors was almost painful, because she realised that the only man she wanted, was Vincent Valentine. She knew that the time had come to do something about it.

It was a bit of a scary thought, realising that she was in love with Vincent. She knew that love could make her vulnerable to hurt, and that sometimes love was more like razorblades than flowers and sunshine. But she also remembered how bitterly she regretted wasting time with Kito. She wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

But before she spoke with Vinnie, though, there were a couple of people she needed to talk to. Not the council. They would just have to put up with it, after all she had given up for Wutai, they were _going _to give her this in return (after all, Vincent already knew that she would always have Wutai tagging along behind her like a needy, irritating younger sibling). No, there were two very important people she needed to speak to before she could freely go to Vincent, and tell him what was in her heart.

It took her a few days to work up the courage to go and see the first one, but soon she found herself knocking on a familiar front door on the other side of Wutai. She had gone to see Suisen Matsuri, Kito's mother.

Yuffie and Suisen had always got along well, surprisingly, considering that Suisen was a very traditional Wutainese wife and Yuffie was, well, not. She had given her some rather belated advice on domestic skills like cooking when she was engaged to Kito, and Yuffie had come to realise that these things weren't as useless as she had once assumed. After his death, they had remained on friendly terms, although Yuffie had at first been afraid that she blamed her as much as she blamed herself, but that was not the case. It had been nice for them both to know that someone else had grieved him as family, not simply as Lord.

Yuffie thought that it was only fair that she told her about Vincent before any rumours were started or announcements were made.

Suisen was obviously happy to see her, but also obviously aware that she felt jittery about something. The fact that she dropped two teacups was probably her first clue. There _was_ a reason, despite the fact she was empress, that Suisen never used the fancy china when she came round.

"It's probably better for my tea-set if you just tell me what's wrong, Yuffie," she said kindly, after they had both cleared up the mess and Yuffie had offered to replace the broken cups.

"Uh," Yuffie began (vaguely cursing the fact that the few diplomatic skills she had acquired always seemed to desert her in personal matters), "it's just… well, I've met someone. Well, met is the wrong word, I guess, I've known him for ages but I've only just started having feelings for him, and well…" she trailed off, aware that she was rambling and that, as sharply as a fan snapping closed, the friendliness had been wiped from Suisen's expression and she was regarding her with blank-faced wariness.

"Have you come for my permission?" she asked quietly,

"Your blessing," she corrected firmly, knowing that she would grasp the difference.

"What's his name?" Suisen asked, still revealing nothing with her expression.

"Oh, Vincent. Vincent Valentine." Yuffie realised that she must really be in love, if she found so much comfort in just saying his name in such an awkward situation.

Her eyes widened with recognition. "This Vincent Valentine… he is a member of AVALANCHE, is he not?"

"Yes, he is," she replied. "He's a good man."

"You have known him for some time, then, I believe?"

She understood the question that she was really asking. Suisen clearly remembered Vincent staying with her after Kito's death, and it was well-known that he was a pretty frequent visitor to her house. "Me and Vinnie have been friends for years, but until the last couple of months that was all, I swear it! I loved Kito, and part of me always will, but…"

"But you are young, and love is precious," her mother-in-law interrupted softly. Her expression had changed, now that she was reassured, into something gentle and understanding. "Kito would have wished you to be happy," she continued, and Yuffie realised that she had her blessing and her eyes filled with tears. She blinked them away, and smiled at her.

"Thanks," she murmured, truly grateful, and gave her the bow of a respectful daughter-in-law for the first and last time. Suisen laughed appreciatively. She drank her tea, and they talked politely of other things for a while before she rose to leave. Her mother-in-law kissed her cheek, before regarding her with an oddly speculative expression.

"One thing, Yuffie," she said, and Yuffie raised an enquiring eyebrow, a habit she had picked up from Vincent at some point without really being aware of it. "Would you bring your children to see me, when they are born?"

Yuffie felt herself flush as she muttered something that was probably an agreement. She was going to wait a while before she related that last part of the conversation to Vincent.

The second person she needed to talk to was even harder than that, because they couldn't talk back. On her way back to her pagoda, she stopped at the altar to Leviathan and lit a stick of incense, as she had done for him every year on the anniversaries of his birth and death.

"Heya Kito," she murmured softly, not knowing if her words would carry to the Lifestream, but knowing she had to say them. "I'm never gonna forget you, you know." She paused, trying to think of what else to say. "I hope you don't mind this too much." She waited quietly, but the only thing she felt was an odd sort of peace in her soul as she said a long overdue goodbye.

When she got home, she went into her room and untied her white headband, replacing it with a pretty patterned one that Tifa had bought for her on their shopping trip. Then she slowly pulled off her wedding and engagement rings. She had never taken them off before, and was a little surprised to see that she had a tan mark on her finger. Her hand felt strangely light as she flexed her fingers, but she knew she would adjust.

She rolled the rings in her fingers, remembering Kito's expression as he had slid them on her, his face in the garden as he proposed to her, before kissing them gently and placing them in the jewellery box she had inherited from her mother. She scrubbed away the last few tears she would shed for the wonderful young man she had loved for so short a time.

Did she still love Kito? Yes, of course. He was her first love, and would always have his own place in her heart. Was she still _in love _with him? No, and she couldn't start anything with Vincent while she still wore tokens of his love and of her mourning.

She had tied up the loose ends of her past. Now, it was time to see to her future.

* * *

It was sunset by the time she reached Edge, and she slipped out of the party into the garden as soon as she could manage it and not be missed. She sat on the swings and waited, drifting idly back and forth, toes scuffing the grass.

She of course didn't have to wait too long. Vinnie followed her out, probably simply curious about why she was avoiding company. His hair and cloak moved slightly in the breeze, and she smiled brightly at him, a warm glow of affection washing over her.

Really, why had she been so afraid? Vincent understood her completely, the good and the bad and the downright neurotic and he loved her anyway. How could she not do the same for him?

He stopped in front of her, frowning slightly as he tried to place what was different about her. She saw his eyes widen slightly when he realised. "New headband?" he asked, his voice not expressing his feelings, but she knew that he understood the significance of it.

"Yup," she responded, tapping it with her bare left hand, before half-stumbling off the swing. He reached out a hand to steady her and not one to waste an opportunity, Yuffie stepped closer, went right up onto her tiptoes (and even then she had to tug his face down a little) and kissed him the way she had been longing to do for some time. After a moment, Vincent kissed her back, gentle and careful.

She pulled away, fighting down the urge to giggle, and smiled at him joyfully. "Vinnie, I…"

He held up his hand, cutting her off before she could finish her sentence. "… are you sure about this, Yuffie?" He seemed more cautious than hopeful, but that was just Vincent being Vincent.

She rolled her eyes, taking his upraised hand in both of hers and forcing it down. "I love you, Vincent," she said, proud that her voice hadn't trembled at all. She took a moment to savour his openly pleased expression before adding teasingly, "but are _you _sure? I mean, I talk too much, I'm not much of a cook, I have a _really_ demanding job and…"

She was rudely interrupted by the presence of cool leather and metal framing her face and a pair of warm lips against her own. She would have grinned but her mouth was a little busy, so instead she twined her fingers deep into his long hair and enjoyed the moment. She felt whole and healed and happy.

Her heart was Vincent's now, and always would be, but she would never forget Kito.

* * *

_A/N: I am so sorry for leaving you all teetering at the edge of that cliff for so long, and extra apologies to the people I accidentally lied to and said that this would be posted last week. As I mentioned last time, things are tough right now, so much so that I lost my Yuffie-voice! I hope this chapter isn't dull to read as a lot of it is just Yuffie thinking about things and tying up loose ends, but I thought it was important There will be more fluff and stuff coming up, though we are nearing the end. Just one, maybe two chapters left._

_Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed and sent messages! It really means a lot. Any reviews for this chapter will be appreciated just as much! _


	8. Chapter 8

Having Yuffie in his arms like this, willingly and unwrongfully, was something that Vincent had never really dared to hope for. So it would have been nice if they had been left in peace for five minutes so he could enjoy it.

But of course, Marlene came out into the garden looking for Yuffie, and of course she ran right back into the bar to let everyone else know what she had seen. While they had been far too distracted to notice her presence, the sudden loud uproar from inside the bar was un-ignorable.

Yuffie pulled away from him slowly, flushed, out of breath and smiling. It had been a long time since he had seen that glow of total happiness in her eyes, and he'd never seen it directed at him. He felt a small, amazed smile pull at his own mouth.

He honestly had not expected this. When he realised that Yuffie was alone outside, he'd followed her because he thought that there was something wrong. The fact that she was waiting for him for the completely opposite reason had never occurred to him. She'd told him that she loved him. He could hardly believe it.

"You okay?" Yuffie asked, staring up at him, half amused, half concerned, and with her eyes still shining. "You kinda zoned out there…"

"I'm fine," he murmured, gazing softly at her and moving his hand to touch her cheek.

The simple fact that he _could_ touch her like that filled him with a fierce, warm emotion that he supposed must be happiness. "More than fine," he added, bending to kiss her again; because he could, and because he had wanted to for so long.

But they could only ignore the resumed commotion from the bar for so long, and besides, he didn't want to start this new relationship with an audience observing.

Yuffie obviously had the same idea because she huffed and rolled her eyes when they broke apart for the second time.

"Ready to face the music?" she asked him, her smile bright and unconcerned.

"I doubt you'll have much facing to do," he commented dryly as Cid's voice, the words indistinct but the tone all too clear, drifted out to them.

She snorted in amusement. "Aw, don't worry, Vinnie. I'll protect you!" She cracked up laughing at her own joke.

His glare was half-hearted, and faltered entirely when she slipped her ringless hand into his. He still couldn't believe that this had happened. Her laughter faded and her smile softened as she looked up into his face and pressed a gentle, chaste kiss to his lips. She seemed to know exactly how he was feeling. He wondered if he looked even half as dazed as he felt.

"You ready?" she asked again, and this time he offered her a small smile and tightened his fingers around hers as an answer. They walked back into the bar together.

He wasn't really surprised at the reactions waiting for them. Tifa was smiling widely, eyes shining with happy tears. Cloud nodded at them, a hint of a smile on his lips. Vincent supposed Tifa must have confided in him at some point. Nanaki's teeth were bared in a canine grin, and even Shelke offered them a rare, approving smile.

On the other hand, Barret and Cid looked shocked and disgruntled, though Vincent guessed that was more to do with the gil they were handing over to a smirking Reeve than any real disapproval. Shera offered them a gentle smile over her scowling husband's shoulder.

Barret, once he had handed over his gil to Reeve, pushed himself to his feet and made his way over to them. "Better not ever make her cry, Valentine," he grunted darkly, as if he were trying not to let Yuffie hear, despite the fact she was standing right next to him.

He nodded, trying to convey without words that he understood the implied threat. To his own surprise, he felt a hint of belated sympathy towards Kito as he realised that the other man must have gone through exactly the same thing.

Yuffie, on the other hand, burst out laughing. "Chill out, Barret!" But then she smiled and kissed his cheek. "But thanks."

Barret shook his head and grumbled under his breath for a moment before shaking his head. "Could do worse, I guess," he declared at last, with a grin at Vincent. It wasn't exactly clear which of them that comment was directed to.

And with those words of blessing, the tense, expectant atmosphere dissolved into one of celebration. Yuffie was hustled over to the bar to talk with Tifa, while he was left with Barret and Cid, and put through the torment of listening to their relationship advice. Only seeing Yuffie smile at him across the bar, and remembering that expression in her eyes when they'd been in the garden got him through it.

When they were finally able to escape from the bar and the attention of their well-meaning friends, Yuffie followed him up the stairs and into his room. He shut the door behind him and stared at her for a moment.

"Did you see Cid's face?" she asked him, snickering. "He looked like he'd swallowed his cigarette!"

Vincent couldn't help smiling at the image, before he reached out and took her in his arms, holding her close. He needed this contact between them to make it all seem real. When she leant her head against his chest and brought her arms up around his waist, under his cloak, he realised she needed it too. Being able to hold her in this way was worth all the years of pain and loneliness and hopeless longing. He heard Yuffie sigh in contentment and he could only hope she felt it made up for it too, even a little.

"Vinnie?" she murmured softly against his shirt after a few quiet moments. "You… you won't ever leave me, will you?"

He heard the vulnerability that she had only learned in the past few years in her voice. He brought her closer still and gently stroked his hand through her hair. "Never," he promised. Not after loving her for so long without ever thinking that they would have a chance. Not after seeing her grief, something that he never, ever wished to cause her.

"Good," she replied, all vulnerability gone from her tone. "I'd hate to have to set Barret on you." She only stopped giggling at her joke when he leaned down and kissed her.

* * *

The next few months were more peaceful and blissful than any Vincent could ever remember experiencing. He spent as much time in Wutai as he could (Reeve had given him a lot of time off, without him even asking. Vincent decided that sometimes interfering friends were a good thing), and he spent his time with Yuffie, quite contentedly.

Although they knew each other well, that knowledge was of each other as close friends. They spent their time discovering each other as lovers. He had very quickly got used to touching- and being touched by- another person again. Their kisses gradually became less gentle and more passionate, their caresses less tentative and more explorative (and Yuffie discovered one of his most closely guarded secrets: he was in fact extremely ticklish. She didn't take _too _much advantage of that knowledge).

He was in no hurry, though, it was more than enough for him just to be with her. It was easy, and comfortable, and everything he had ever wanted. He relished her happiness, and the fact that _he _was causing it. He was happy too, so much that it surprised him.

"I've always wanted to play with your hair," Yuffie confessed one evening when they were sitting cosily together in her living room. He was amused by this, but was enjoying the feeling of her deft fingers moving gently through his hair too much to let it show.

"You put daisies in it once, as I remember," he murmured, as Yuffie laughed in reminiscence.

"Oh yeah! Gawd, I really thought you were going to strangle me!" she said, as she carefully plaited and re-plaited his hair.

He _had_ considered strangling her at the time. It wasn't until later, when he remembered Aerith and Tifa's laughter, the sympathetic glances exchanged by the men and Cait Sith bounding over with another armful of flowers, including several large thistles, that he realised that he'd felt truly accepted as part of the group for the very first time.

"Hey, I could go and get some daisies now!" Yuffie exclaimed, interrupting his musings before he could share them. "Or some-"

"No."

"Spoilsport," she huffed with a smile, carrying on with her braiding.

* * *

As much as Vincent wished the peaceful times between them would go on forever, he knew that that would not be the case. Yuffie was empress, after all, and her responsibility to her country couldn't fade into the background just because they'd started a new relationship, and because of that responsibility, their new relationship couldn't remain private. He didn't know what would happen to them when it became public knowledge in Wutai.

When he arrived at her home one weekend, she threw herself into his arms before he even got right the way through the door. When she tilted her head to look at him he noticed the signs of tiredness and stress on her face that he hated to see on her.

Correctly interpreting his concern, she stepped back to let him in and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Uh, sorry about that, Vinnie. I just needed a hug, I guess."

He shook his head, dismissing her apology, not her actions. He liked that she turned to him for comfort.

"There was a council meeting today, and they were really pressuring me about getting remarried and stuff. I had to tell them about us." She blurted out her explanation with a cross expression, but then she looked up at him anxiously. "I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about it first, I totally didn't mean to throw you in at the deep end or anything. I meant to, you know, bring it up gradually but they just wouldn't _shut up _about Ryu Asuka, who I'd never marry anyway because he's a big jerk, but …"

"… and how did they react?" he interrupted her ramblings, knowing from painful experience that she could go on indefinitely unless he did.

"Do you remember when I stole all of Cid's cigarettes and replaced them with those candy ones?"

"I see." That didn't bode well for them. He felt a cold anxiety inside him, one he hadn't experienced for many years. He could lose this happiness, after only just finding it. He wouldn't back away from the challenge, but he wouldn't make Yuffie choose between him and Wutai either. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know what her choice would be.

"Hey," she said, smacking his arm lightly when he didn't say anything else. "It's gonna be okay, you know. I'm empress now, right? That means I get final say over my suitors."

"Suitors?" he asked, reassured by her bright tone and amused by her use of the slightly old-fashioned phrase.

Her eyes were soft and warm as she grinned back at him, an expression that he still wasn't used to seeing from her, but one that he couldn't get enough of. "Well, there's only one that matters."

He leaned down and kissed her; how could he not, for that comment? "… what do you want me to do?" he asked her, when they broke apart.

She frowned in consideration. "Well, they were going on about meeting you. D'you mind? It'll be like telling Barret and Cid again, but _worse._" Her voice was slightly hesitant, but he had already accepted that being with the Empress of Wutai would mean relinquishing some of his fierce desire for privacy.

"Very well," he agreed and was reward by her bright smile and her jumping up to give him an excited kiss.

"`Kay! I'll go and arrange the meeting!" She was bouncing on her toes, obviously too happy to stand still. "Oh, and don't let Chekhov bully you, she can be a bit, uh, forceful. Thank you so much, Vinnie! This is so exciting!"

He watched her dart out of the house and wondered with a mixture of trepidation and amusement what exactly he was letting himself in for.

Later that night, he was still wondering. His arrival to the meeting had been greeted by the suspicious faces of the Wutainese council and Yuffie's nervous smile. It was a big moment for her, he knew, as she was not only introducing her new love to people who were as close as family to her, but also facing a challenge to her leadership skills and her judgement.

He understood the concerns the council members expressed; he was not full Wutainese, he was not noble, he was not a ninja. The first two could not be challenged, but when the last issue was raised, Yuffie snorted rudely beside him.

"Kito wasn't a ninja either," she pointed out. "None of you objected about that then."

Vincent looked at her in concern, as did everyone else in the room. But her eyes showed no sadness, and her smile was nostalgic rather than sombre. That was when Vincent noticed the first softening towards him, the fact the Yuffie was obviously not in mourning anymore.

The second softening in attitude came when the meeting at one point turned into a slanging match between Yuffie, Staniv and Gorki. He had simply touched her on the arm, a silent reminder that her attitude was probably not helping their case. She had spoken civilly after that- through gritted teeth occasionally, but civilly. The fact that the headstrong ninja listened to him obviously counted in his favour, by some council members, at least.

The council had eventually given their grudging blessing for him to court Yuffie. She had been angry at their reluctance, and had been pretty quiet for the rest of the day. If he was honest, he didn't really care what the council thought of him. The fact that Yuffie believed in him, wanted him at her side, was all the permission he needed. But a quiet Yuffie always worried him, for some reason.

His troubled thoughts, combined with one of Yuffie's cats climbing all over him, conspired to keep him awake. Eventually, he gave up trying as his mind was far too occupied, and decided to make himself a drink.

But as he moved silently through Yuffie's house, trying not to wake her, he was surprised to see soft light coming from her living room. When he pushed the door ajar, he was surprised to see Yuffie, wide awake, reading through some piles of documents. She started and looked up sharply when his shadow fell on her papers.

"Vinnie! What're you doing up?" she asked, sleepily rubbing her eyes and blinking at him.

"Your cat woke me," he commented dryly, taking the seat opposite her. She instantly shifted over to him, curling into him and resting her head on his thigh, just like the cat he had been trying to avoid (but far more pleasantly). He absently threaded his fingers through the dark skein of her hair, finding the easy contact reassuring after the unsettling day.

"Which one?" she asked, muffling a laugh.

He hesitated, before replying, "… Lord Fuzzingtons." Yuffie's laughter was less muffled that time. He was absolutely positive that she gave her cats ridiculous names just for the fun of hearing other people say them. "Why aren't you sleeping?"

She gestured wearily at the documents she'd laid out on the floor. "The only bad thing about you coming to Wutai more often is that I can't use you as an excuse for a holiday anymore," she sighed, though she didn't sound upset. Just tired, and a little bored.

He shook his head, marvelling at the change in her. He remembered Reeve complaining once that, although in all other ways she was an excellent head of intelligence; it took a combination of pleading, threats and outright bribery to get her to turn her paperwork in on time. All her jokey grumblings about the amount of paperwork she had to do began to make sense, he thought as he studied the huge stack of documents.

But she wasn't even pretending to read them anymore. Her eyes had drifted shut as his hand stroked through her hair, and she'd wrapped her arms around his knee in a strange sort of hug. He could feel the tiredness in every line of her body. He didn't say anything, but he started to trail his fingers up and down her bare arm, and he could feel her start to relax.

"Vinnie," she asked, after a few moments of sleepy, contented silence. "They didn't, you know, put you off or anything did they?"

He didn't answer for a moment, fingers stilling against her arm in surprise that she would think that. "Of course not," he replied, and she made a humming noise of contentment. "When do you think we should?" he asked her, feeling her shift in confusion.

"Should what?" she yawned, jaw cracking with the force of it.

"Get married," he replied bluntly, thinking it was obvious. The council had more than made their expectations clear.

Yuffie laughed, and her reaction made his spine stiffen. "Gotta work on your delivery there, Valentine," she teased, but he was far from finding it funny. He had never proposed to anyone before and hadn't expected laughter as a response.

"Yuffie," he chided, and she pushed herself upright to look at him in surprise.

"Oh. You're serious," she said blankly, staring at him as if he had suggested something completely ridiculous, like bungee-jumping into Cosmo Canyon. The fact that Yuffie would probably find bungee-jumping into Cosmo Canyon _less _ridiculous than she evidently did his proposal made something inside him go cold.

"Of course I'm serious," he said. He always was, after all, and the thought that after all this time, Yuffie not wanting the same things as him really hurt.

"Well, there's no hurry is there?" she responded uneasily. "I know we've known each other for ages, but we've only been going out for a few months. I don't…" she trailed off, evidently trying to explain her thoughts, but he was beyond waiting for her explanation. Her rejection hurt and angered him in a way he hadn't felt for years.

"You don't what, Yuffie? Want to marry _Ryu Asuka_?" He sneered the name of the man the council had wanted her to marry instead of him, a man he hated without having even met. "So I'm just a convenient way to get out of that?"

"No!" she gasped, her own hurt and anger sparking. "How could you even _think _I'd do that to you? I'm just…"

"… settling for second best," he finished for her, feeling cold and lonely as he voiced his deepest insecurity, roused by her obvious reluctance to marry him despite her council's wishes.

Her mouth worked furiously and for a moment she looked as if she was going to snap back at him, but he saw the anger in her die abruptly, to be replaced simply by weariness.

"Vincent," she said, and the flatness of her voice stung him. Yuffie was usually as passionate in her anger as she was in everything else. "If your life had gone the way you planned, we'd have never even met. I'm going to bed." She turned jerkily away, skidding on her pile of paper as she left the room.

He stared after her, but couldn't think of anything to say to call her back.

He gathered the papers that she had scattered in her escape, buying himself some time to calm down, and to think. As he went to put the documents on her table, his eyes landed on a picture of Kito.

He would never have asked her to put the picture away, but in an unspoken concession to his feelings, she had moved the photograph out of her bedroom and into the less intimate setting of the living room. It was in amongst all her other photos, right next to one of Aerith, Tifa and Yuffie laughing together at something in the Gold Saucer. But as he looked at the photo of the young man that his ninja had loved before him, he remembered that he hadn't just died, he'd been assassinated in protest to the changes he and Yuffie had made in Wutai.

He already knew that Yuffie had become more afraid of the people she loved leaving her. Was it then really any wonder that she wanted to move slowly and wait for her people to fully accept him before making her commitment to him formal and binding?

She had been trying to protect him, and her people, and he had misunderstood. It had hurt him a little to hear Yuffie _laugh _at his marriage proposal, but he should have known better than to accuse her of the things that he had. He knew that when Yuffie chose to fully commit herself to someone, or something, she did it whole-heartedly and enthusiastically.

He knew why he reacted the way he had. Vincent knew that he was out of practice being happy. Although after Deepground he had learned to forgive himself, and found peace and contentment, true happiness was a feeling that had been foreign to him, until recently.

Sometimes, he couldn't help feeling as if he were trapped within a taunting demon-dream and that he would wake up and none of this would have ever happened. The fear of losing this happiness, of losing Yuffie, had been under the surface of his thoughts all day, and it had made him lash out coldly.

He didn't know how he was going to fix this argument with Yuffie, but he knew better than to just leave it the way it was.

He went to her room, and pushed the door open, not trying to be subtle. He could see her huddled form under her blanket and hear her hitched breathing. It made his heart clench painfully.

He sat on the bed next to her and tried to think of something to say to break the silence, but the silence just grew longer. After a long, uncomfortable moment, Yuffie sighed.

"You're sitting on my feet," she muttered. Vincent, recognising a lifeline when he heard one, shifted off her feet and tugged the blanket down from her face. In the dim light that spilled thorough the darkness and over her face from the living room, her eyes glittered at him like baleful stars.

"Yuffie," he whispered, hating the expression on her, hating the situation he had created between them. "Forgive me, please."

Her eyes sparked at him one last time, before she groaned and rolled on to her back, looking up at him properly. "Was that our first official fight?" she asked ruefully.

He sighed in relief. Yuffie wasn't one to hold a grudge. "Let's make it our last," he agreed.

Yuffie made a strange noise, somewhere between a snort and a laugh. "We've always fought, Vinnie. Why'd you think that would change?" He snorted as well, making her laugh properly. "You know it keeps you young."

He leaned forward and gently placed a kiss on her forehead. She sighed. "I'm sorry too, Vinnie," she murmured. "I didn't mean to make you think…"

"I know," he interrupted. "I understand." He really did, and he saw Yuffie's relief when she heard it.

"When we decide to, you know, talk about marriage and stuff, I want it to be right for us, too. I know what it's like to be pressured into marriage, and I don't want to do that you." Her voice was earnest, entreating for his understanding.

"I know," he said again, though he thought their circumstances were a little different. In the most secret depths of his heart, where he consigned his useless dreams and wishes, he had longed for that with Yuffie for years now. It wasn't until very recently that it had even become a possibility. But it was a possibility that Yuffie was only just getting used to.

She reached out and clutched at his hand. "I loved Kito, Vinnie, you know I did, but I had to let him go to be with you. And it was hard, almost as hard as losing him in the first place but I did it because I love you now. Just because you're my second love, it doesn't make you second best." Her simple, sincere words affected him powerfully, and he couldn't think of what to say in reply. "You understand that, don't you?"

"Yes," he agreed without hesitation, knowing what she was really asking. He knew how hard it was to let go of a lost loved one; leaving Lucrecia's cave for the last time, even with the reassurance of finding Shelke outside and the comfort of hearing that his friends were waiting for him, was harder than all battles that he had just gone through. And there was no way that he saw Yuffie as being second best to Lucrecia.

He leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on her lips, one meant to reassure her and soothe any pain that he had caused her with his thoughtless words. But the kiss quickly changed when Yuffie responded eagerly and hungrily, seeking the comfort he was all too willing to give.

By the time he found the strength to pull back, his pyjama shirt was on the floor, Yuffie's fists were clenched in his hair, and his human hand had been roaming freely under her nightgown. He smirked a little at the dazed look in her eyes, realising that he had driven all thoughts of their fight from her mind.

He kissed her again, briefly, though she tried to deepen the kiss again. Vincent knew he wouldn't be able to break away from that sort of kiss a second time. "… I should go," he murmured, but Yuffie reached out and caught his hand, tugging him back down on the bed.

"Or you could just sleep here tonight," she told him mischievously. Her smile was a little shy, the glint in her eyes anything but. "You know, if you want to."

* * *

In the months that followed that night of all sort of different understandings, their relationship grew from strength to strength. He was spending more and more time in Wutai, only returning to Edge when Reeve really needed him, or for their monthly gatherings. And more and more, he was beginning to regard Wutai as home. It was a strange sensation; he hadn't truly had a home since before his fateful stay in Nibelhiem, thirty years before. Even his comfortable flat in Edge had been more of a place to sleep than anything else.

Yuffie's people were beginning to recognise and accept him, much more quickly than he had expected. They greeted him when he arrived, spoke to him politely while he was there, and wished him well when he left. He couldn't understand it.

"It's because you've made her smile again," Chekhov informed him, when he stared wonderingly after a group of children who had waved and called greetings to him as he made his way to Yuffie's house. He could feel the warmth of her approval; she made been one of the hardest council members to win over. "We're all glad about that," she added, nodding at him as she walked away.

He saw Wutai as home because Yuffie was there. He knew that Yuffie and Kito had fallen in love because their love for Wutai had brought them together. He would love Wutai because he loved Yuffie. And he didn't want to leave either of them again.

He entered Yuffie's house without knocking, as usual, and entered the kitchen looking for her. She kissed him hello and handed him a cup of tea, both of which were very welcome as the day was cold, but the contentment that filled him was more warming than the tea.

He listened while Yuffie prattled on about all the things she wanted them to do while he was in town, including sneaking off for another camping trip as they had done some years before. "… when do you have to leave?" she asked him, and the wistfulness in her voice made him smile. She didn't want him to leave either.

"I don't," he replied simply, but offering her everything in that statement. She stared at him for a moment, the joy that slowly appeared in her expression more than matching his own.

She jumped up and kissed him fiercely, before grinning widely at him. "Well, I guess you won't take up too much wardrobe space," she laughed, eyeing his leather suit and cloak with mock disparagement.

He smiled at her again, not able to help himself. It had been a long road for the both of them, but at last, he was home.

* * *

_Look, I'm not dead! Sorry about the wait, between my new job, broken fingers, writer's block and my laptop going on strike, I just haven't had the chance to finish this. I'm not hugely happy with it, but at least it's an update, right? It was a bit strange writing Yuffie and Vincent as a couple at last, but I hope it's alright- it'd be a big adjustment for them both and I can't ever see them having a totally harmonious relationship! _

_Epilogue up next, shouldn't take too long as I've had it pretty much planned from the beginning. Thanks to all the people who still care/have reviewed/sent messages. They're all very much appreciated, as always. _

_(Oh, and Yuffie's cat being called Lord Fuzzingtons is inspired by a really cute Yuffentine called the _Queen of Spades _by the Walker of Dreams. You should read it, if you haven't already!) _


	9. Epilogue: eight years later

Even after all her time as Empress, Yuffie was still eager for distractions from her paperwork.

But when, early one morning, her daughter Haru entered the kitchen, carrying a photograph album that she hadn't really looked at in years, she realised that the conversation she was about to have was going to be more difficult than any trade negotiation.

She resigned herself to being late for her morning meeting with the council. Some things were just more important.

Haru clambered onto the chair next to her, a little frown on her face (and she had an _epic_ frown; aside from the colour of her eyes and a slight Wutainese cast to her features, she was the image of Vincent. Yuffie sometimes wondered how many other mothers worried that their daughters would develop wrinkles before their thirteenth birthday), and opened the album to a picture she hadn't looked at for so long, but still remembered every detail of.

"Who's that man in the picture, mama?" she asked, obviously confused. Like every little girl on the face of the Planet, Haru recognised a wedding photo. She also, obviously, recognised that the man in the photo was not her father.

She shared a quick glance over her daughter's head with Vincent, a type of silent communication they had only developed after so many years of marriage. They had never quite come to an agreement about what parts of their… colourful… previous love-lives they would share with their daughter.

After all, her story was well known in Wutai, part of the history of her culture that Haru would have to learn one day. And while Vincent's past was less well known, it was the focus of much speculation, some of it wilder than the actual events.

The one thing they had agreed on, however, is that Haru would be older than six when they discussed it with her. But Yuffie wasn't going to lie to her daughter, or treat as if she was stupid, just because she was a child.

She sat down and turned the album towards her to look more closely at the photo. She and Kito looked so young, smiling and happy, blissfully unaware of their future. She smiled a little again, looking at the photo. There was the tiniest pang of remembered sadness, but mostly she could remember how happy she had been then, and it was a good feeling.

"His name was Kito," Yuffie began, looking back at her daughter. "I was married to him, before I married your dad."

Vincent sighed slightly, though whether in disapproval or just general discomfort with the topic she wasn't sure. She was sure he'd let her know, one way or the other, when Haru was asleep.

Haru only seemed puzzled by this. "How can you have been married to _two_ people?"

Yuffie snorted at that. "I wasn't married to them both at the same time, Haru." She shifted awkwardly and then added, "Kito died." It was a brief statement, but those words contained a whole story of pain and regret that could definitely wait until the little girl had grown up a bit more.

There wasn't much of a reaction to that, just an "oh" and another little frown while she mulled it over. She was Vincent's daughter in temperament as well, mostly. She had thrown the odd awe-inspiring temper-tantrum though.

Yuffie thought that it was hugely unfair that her daughter had inherited all her bad traits.

Haru didn't say anything for a while. Death was a hard concept for any child to grasp and her only real frame of reference was that Lord Fuzzingtons had died a few weeks ago- and Yuffie herself had been more upset than Haru. She was glad about that though; when she had been her daughter's age, her country had been in the middle of losing a war, and death had been all too familiar to her. She was glad (and kind of proud too) that Haru was a stranger to anything like that.

"Were you sad?" She asked after a while, her voice small and uncertain.

"Yup," Yuffie answered lightly, but honestly. "Really, really sad." She ruffled up her daughter's hair and smiled at her solemn expression. "But, you see, your dad was my best friend. He helped me to feel better when I was sad, and stopped me from doing stupid things when I was angry. Then, one day, we realised that we loved each, and we got married." It was a simplified version of the story, sure, but it was true.

"And you were happy again?" Haru asked, still sounding a little uncertain. It was a lot for her to take in, Yuffie knew.

She smiled at her, and then turned her smile onto Vincent, as wide and brilliant as she could make it (which was pretty wide, and extremely brilliant). "Yeah. I'm happy again."

Vincent's expression softened slightly. She'd practically _felt_ his discomfort at the topic. It was hard for them both to talk about, in different ways.

"What was he like?" Haru asked. Yuffie supposed that her curiosity was probably her fault, too.

"He was…" how was she supposed to describe him, to sum him up in just a few words? "He was funny and kind, and a bit too serious at times," she said slowly. "He was clever, much cleverer than me and sometimes we argued a lot and…" for a short time, he had been her everything. But that was not something she would say in front of Vincent, not when she knew he was already feeling awkward. "Next time you talk to Grandma Suisen, you should ask her," Yuffie told her instead, knowing that Suisen would appreciate the chance to talk about Kito.

"Okay mama," Haru agreed easily, looking back at the photograph.

Yuffie carefully pulled the album away from her. "But for now, don't you have some rope-escape lessons you should be at?" she asked, and couldn't help laughing as Haru wrinkled her nose.

"I hate rope-escape lessons," she grumbled, pouting and folding her arms in an oh-so familiar way.

"So did I, but you'll never know when they'll come in handy," Yuffie assured her, ignoring Vincent's slight snort. "Believe me." With a very put-upon sigh, Haru stood up to go. Kissing her father, and then her, she skipped her way out of the door.

Yuffie turned her attention back to Vincent, who was studying the photograph album intently. She took another glance at it too. Behind her and Kito, her friends and family were all assembled, smiling for the camera in different degrees. But right at the back of the photo Vincent stood, only his profile showing, determinedly not looking at anything at all.

She hadn't thought anything of it at the time, as that had been Vincent's default reaction whenever anyone had the temerity to point a camera in his direction. But looking back she could see the traces of pain in his face. Although she had no regrets about her first wedding, she still hated the thought that something that had made her so happy had caused him sadness, and she hated that the photo seemed to have stirred up some traces of it for him.

So Yuffie did what she did best and provided a big, noisy distraction to take his mind off it. She leapt across the kitchen table, scattering paperwork in her wake, and landed in Vincent's unsuspecting lap (earning herself a slightly-winded "oof" in response, much to her amusement). His arms automatically went around her, warm and secure.

"Heya Vinnie!" she said cheekily, squirming in his lap to make herself comfortable.

He sighed above her head, more amused than exasperated, and she smiled to herself as she realised she had caught him on the cusp of sinking into angst, successfully preventing it. "Hello, Yuffie," he replied tolerantly, leaning down to brush a kiss against the crown of her head.

They had been married for nearly eight years now, Yuffie realised. After Vincent's ever-so-slightly unromantic proposal, he had made up for it by giving her a beautiful red-gold ring, topped with garnets and pearls. Their wedding had been much smaller than her first, with just her friends and the people she considered family in attendance. But she had been no less happy than in her first, seeing Vincent staring at her in her new kimono, with all the love he felt for her actually showing on his face, ranked as one of her all-time best memories.

She had been especially happy that Kito's mother and sister had come as well; it meant a lot to her that they could be happy for her. Tifa had cried, again, but she had chalked it up hormones as she had been carrying her second child at the time.

She had taken the name Valentine as her own. Although Haru was Kisaragi-Valentine (to preserve the dynastic name) Yuffie refused to go through life with a triple-barrelled name. Kisaragi-Matsuri had been enough of a mouthful. Besides, it made Vincent happy. Yuffie had come to realise that there wasn't a lot she wouldn't do to achieve that.

Their wedding had been announced to Wutai in general after the fact. She had basically told her people that they could accept it _or else _(although it had been phrased in slightly more diplomatic language than that). And although there had been a few rumblings of discontent, the change had been accepted peacefully. That was partly because Yuffie had worked hard to secure her position in the years before her marriage, but possibly also because Vincent could look pretty scary when he wanted to.

He didn't take an active role in ruling Wutai, preferring to leave all that to her, but he was an able and willing adviser, and definitely the organised one of the two of them. He kept her focused when she got bored and distracted. He would come to meetings if she needed him to glare at someone for her, though. He was the most potent weapon in her political arsenal.

They had settled into their lives together with just a few adjustments. Although they still lived in the royal pagoda she had shared with Kito, she had let Vincent choose a new room for them, and to move things around until he felt at home. She had wanted him to feel that he had his own place in her life, not like he was simply plugging a hole that had been left in her. She knew he appreciated the gesture, he had demonstrated it quite vividly to her on their first night in their new room.

While they had the occasional clash of personality, sometimes friendly, sometimes not so much and although they occasionally got on each other's nerves, they always managed to get by. Besides, arguing with Vincent had got a lot more stimulating (and occasionally amusing) now that she didn't have to respect his personal space. They loved each other, and that was the most important thing. She had learned to treasure the important things and to let the little things go.

Well, most of the time, anyway.

And when Haru had been born two years into their marriage, she felt as if their happiness had been complete. She had actually found out that she was pregnant on what would have been Kito's birthday and had cried all over Vincent, worrying him a little until he realised they had been happy tears. She had felt as if her first love had been sending her a blessing from the Lifestream.

Watching her daughter grow, and seeing Vincent as a father, was the greatest joy of her life.

She snuggled closer to Vincent with a contented sigh as she remembered, winding a lock of his hair around her fingers. His simple presence was soothing to her, his strength a comfort, as it had always been; whether he was at her side in battle, or easing her heartache as her best friend, or by being with her every day as her love and her partner.

He was her everything now. She had been lucky to experience such love and happiness _once, _twice was almost more than she deserved. Not that she was complaining, by any means. Far from it, in fact.

"You're going to be late for your meeting," Vincent reminded her quietly, voice rumbling against her ear.

"I already am," she replied, not moving from his loose embrace. After a moment, his grip tightened around her as he accepted the fact she would not be leaving her comfy seat any time soon.

"I wasn't expecting to have that talk quite so soon," Vincent observed after a while, but his figure was relaxed against hers and his voice was calm. She had obviously soothed away his discomfort just in time.

"Hmm," Yuffie agreed thoughtfully. "Well, it'll be your turn soon enough," she observed with a laugh, feeling Vincent start slightly against her. "Don't worry," she assured him, tilting her head to kiss his jaw. "We'll handle it. No problem."

Vincent smiled, the expression less-rare now but still something she loved to see on him. "Yes," he agreed. "We will." He paused for a second, turning to look her right in the eyes. "You… you are happy, aren't you?"

She snorted rudely, socking him in the shoulder before kissing him soundly. "You _know _I am, Vinnie!" she assured him, rubbing at his shoulder where she had hit him. "How about you?" she asked him teasingly, already secure in the answer.

Vincent bent slightly to kiss her, briefly and sweetly. His eyes expressed everything to her that his tone did not. "I never thought I would have any of this," he told her quietly. "How could I be anything _but_ happy?"

Yuffie felt a sappy grin touch her mouth for a moment - after all, once she would have never though she would hear Vincent say any such thing, especially not to her - before nudging him in the ribs, cheerfully ruining the moment. "Wow Valentine, you're _so_ going to get lucky for that tonight!"

A smile flickered across his lips before he kissed her again, deeply and seriously this time. She pressed herself closer to him as she returned it, thoughts of her Council meeting flying out of her head.

When her heart had broken, Vincent had sticky-taped back together for her. When it felt like there had been nothing left for her but a miserable winter, it turned out that Vincent was her spring. The thought that she had done the same for him, even a little bit, made her heart beat faster.

After all they had been through, all that she had learned, all that she had lost and gained, how could she _not _be happy?

* * *

_A/N: And we're done!_

_I'm such a terrible liar. My apologies. I actually meant to have this up a few weeks ago, but real life kept happening to me (as did, uh, Dragon Age: Origins). I've re-written this so many now but I had to end it at some point. Hopefully it wrapped everything up for you guys- I felt like they deserved a happy ending after everything I put them through. _

_Thanks you so much to everyone who has read and (hopefully) enjoyed my strange little reverse Yuffentine, and extra special thanks to those of you who let me know what you thought. It turned out a little different from my original idea, but I'm pretty happy with it now. Thanks for sticking with me through various life crises, injuries and illnesses, writer's blocks and technical problems, and prematurely greying hair. _

_I have plenty more Yuffentines in mind, and I've also been working on a Rufus/Yuffie fic as well (Yeah, I was surprised too). So stay tuned! _

_This is your last chance to review, people! You know you want to! _


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